Construction of an Evaluation Model for Free/Open Source Project Hosting Sites

……………………………......Page 2
Acknowledgements......Page 3
Table of Content......Page 7
List of Figures......Page 13
List of Tables......Page 17
Abbreviations......Page 20
Abstract......Page 23
1.1 Introduction......Page 24
1.2 Rationale of the Research......Page 29
1.3 Objectives of the Research......Page 31
1.6 Structure of This Dissertation......Page 32
2.2 Formal Definition of Free/Open Source Software......Page 36
2.3 The Most Well-Known Model - The Cathedral and The Bazaar......Page 38
2.4 Relevant Areas of Interest in the Topic of Free/Open Source Phenomenon......Page 42
2.5 Summary of Chapter Two......Page 43
3.2 Free/Open Source Project Hosting Sites......Page 46
3.3 Developing the Research Questions......Page 49
3.4 Summary of Chapter Three......Page 52
4.2 Background for Analytical Frameworks......Page 53
4.2.1 Free/Open Source Community, a definition......Page 55
4.2.2 A Framework on Computer-Supported Cooperative Work (CSCW)......Page 58
4.3.1 Communication......Page 60
4.3.3 Coordination......Page 62
4.3.4 Culture......Page 67
4.4 A Model of Individual Participation to a Free/Open Source Community......Page 69
4.5 Notes on the Construction of the Model of Individual Participation to a Free/Open Source Community......Page 74
4.7 Comparison Between the Other Models and the Model of Individual Participation to a Free/Open Source Community......Page 79
4.7.1 Software Development Based Models......Page 81
4.7.2 Comprehensive Models......Page 83
4.7.3 Comparison of the Models......Page 89
4.9 Summary to Chapter Four......Page 94
5.2 Overall Research Strategy......Page 97
5.3 Selection of Research Methodologies and Methods......Page 102
5.3.1.1 Introduction......Page 108
5.3.1.2 Software Evaluation During Development......Page 110
5.3.1.3 Software Product Evaluation......Page 122
5.3.1.4 Software Evaluation and FOSPHost......Page 126
5.3.1.5 Presentations of Evaluation......Page 130
5.3.1.6 Users of Evaluation......Page 140
5.3.2 Delphi Survey......Page 142
5.3.2.2 Participants of Survey......Page 145
5.3.2.3 Questionnaire Development for the Survey......Page 146
5.3.2.4 Implementation of Survey on the Web Server......Page 151
5.3.2.5 Data Analysis......Page 199
5.3.3 Detailed investigation on External Hosting Sites......Page 203
5.4 Summary of Chapter Five......Page 208
6.2.1 Invitations and Responses......Page 211
6.2.2 Agreed Answers......Page 225
6.2.3 Controversial Answers......Page 234
6.3.1 Delphi Survey Method......Page 252
6.3.2 Responses and Validity......Page 256
6.3.3 Possible Improvements in Delphi Survey Method......Page 265
6.3.4 Data Analysis......Page 268
6.3.5 Discussion of Results......Page 273
6.4 Summary of Chapter Six......Page 281
7.2 Data Collection and Selection of Sites......Page 284
7.2.1 Infrastructure and Non-infrastructure sites......Page 285
7.2.2 Introduction to Infrastructure Sites......Page 287
7.2.3 Introduction to Non-infrastructure Sites......Page 292
7.3 Comparison of External Hosting Sites......Page 293
7.3.1 General Information......Page 295
7.3.2 Project Tools - Tools for Public/Developers......Page 298
7.3.3 Project Tools - Tools for Project Administrators......Page 310
7.3.4 Personal Tools for Developers......Page 318
7.3.5 Community Tools......Page 322
7.3.6 Others......Page 331
7.4 Discussion of the Comparison......Page 338
7.5 Summary of Chapter Seven......Page 348
8.2 Data Collected and Choice of Evaluation Presentation......Page 349
8.3 Implementation of the Evaluation Presentations......Page 351
8.3.1 Tools Chosen for Implementation......Page 353
8.3.2 Evaluation Model Implemented with the Chosen Tools......Page 355
8.4 Discussion of the Evaluation Model......Page 371
8.5 Summary of Chapter Eight......Page 373
9.2 Discussions and Limitations of this research......Page 376
9.3 Implications of the Findings – Free/Open Source as a Different Paradigm......Page 380
9.4 Summary of Chapter Nine......Page 395
10.2 Summary of Findings......Page 396
10.2.1 The Model of Individual Participation to a Free/Open Source Community and Software Evaluation Classification......Page 397
10.2.3 Detailed investigation......Page 399
10.2.5 Contributions of the Findings......Page 401
10.4.1 Further Research on FOSPHost......Page 403
10.4.2 Further Research on the Broader Context of the Free/Open......Page 409
10.5 Possible Future of the Software Industry and the Potential Applications of the Findings......Page 417
List of References......Page 429
Appendix A Related Publications......Page 459
Appendix B Licenses of Different Portions of the Dissertation and Other Copyright Issues......Page 460
Appendix E Susceptibility of Average and Variance......Page 468
F.1 Historical Influences......Page 471
F.2 A Closer Look at CVS......Page 479
F.3 Limitations of CVS......Page 483
F.4 Other Systems Used in the Free/Open Source Communities......Page 485
F.5 Conclusion......Page 486
Appendix G Results of Free/Open Source Hosting (FOSPHost) Sites Delphi Survey......Page 487
Appendix J Source Code for Evaluation Model......Page 504