Structural Analysis of Collaboration Network in OSS Communities∗
Peng Liu, Liang Gui · 2021
The success of open-source software (OSS) depends on the self-organizing collaboration of developers and the structure of developer collaboration network are intensively investigated in the literature. However, the research on the relationship between network structure and developers’ contribution is still insufficient. This paper investigates developer collaboration networks in three OSS communities by data analytics. The results indicate that real networks are mainly characterized by the modular small-world structure, which is inherently correlated with the sub-project participation of developers. Most module members are single-dimensional developers whose coding-collaboration focuses on a small number of sub-projects (called the main dimension of the module), while a small proportion of module members are multi-dimensional developers who conduct coding-collaboration in the main dimension of different modules. These results may deepen our understandings of the collaborative pattern of OSS communities, and also have some reference value for the studies of open collaborative innovation in large-scale crowds.