Multiple Social Networks Analysis of FLOSS Projects using Sargas

TitleMultiple Social Networks Analysis of FLOSS Projects using Sargas
Publication TypeConference Paper
Year of Publication2009
Authorsde Sousa, SF, Balieiro, MA, dos R. Costa, JM, de Souza, CRB
Secondary Title2009 42nd Hawaii International Conference on System Sciences (HICSS 2009)
Pagination1 - 10
PublisherIEEE
Place PublishedWaikoloa, Hawaii, USA
ISBN Number978-0-7695-3450-3
Keywordscase study, multiple social networks, ossnetwork, pmd, social network analysis, transflow
Abstract

Due to their characteristics and claimed advantages, several researchers have been investigating free and open-source projects. Different aspects are being studied: for instance, what motivates developers to join FLOSS projects, the tools, processes and practices used in FLOSS projects, the evolution of FLOSS communities among other things. Researchers have studied collaboration and coordination of open source software developers using an approach known as social network analysis and have gained important insights about these projects. Most researchers, however, have not focused on the integrated study of these networks and, accordingly, in their interrelationships. This paper describes an approach and tool to combine multiple social networks to study the evolution of open-source projects. Our tool, named Sargas, allows comparison and visualization of different social networks at the same time. Initial results of our analysis can be used to extend the "onion-model" of open source participation.

Notes

"The interval of analysis for the first three networks was from 2003/02/24 to 2003/11/03. These networks were created using the OSSNetwork tool [18]. The source code of the PMD project was collected starting on 2002/06/24..."
"Transflow performs a co-changes analysis of the source code modification history and creates a matrix where software components are connected by taking into account the frequency that they have been changed together (i.e., in the same check-in): if two files have been changed together in the same check-in, an edge is created to link these two files."

DOI10.1109/HICSS.2009.316
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