Exploring Coordination Structures in Open Source Software Development
Chintan Amrit, Jeroen Hegeman, Jos van Hillegersberg · University of Twente Research Information · 2007
Coordination is difficult to achieve in a large globally distributed project setting. The problem is multiplied in open source software development projects, where most of the traditional means of coordination such as plans, system-level designs, schedules and defined process are not used. In order to maintain proper coordination in open source projects one needs to monitor the progress of the FLOSS project continuously. We propose a mechanism of display of Socio- Technical project structures that can locate the coordination problems in open source software development. Using the tool TESNA (TEchnical and Social Network Analysis) that we have developed; we cluster the software and produce a display of the different software clusters as well as the people working on its constituting software classes. We then demonstrate the technique on a sample FLOSS project that is on the brink of becoming inactive.