Published December 17, 2015
| Version v1
Publication
Analysis of activity in open-source communities using social network analysis techniques
Description
The success of an open-source software project is closely linked to the successful organization
and development of the underlying virtual community. In particular, participation is the most
important mechanism by which the development of the project is supported. The main
objective of this paper is to analyse the online participation in virtual communities using
social network analysis techniques in order to obtain the main patterns of behaviour of users
within communities. Several open-source communities related to Linux ports to embedded
processors have been studied, obtaining a set of indicators by modelling them as a social
network. Exploratory factor analysis has been used to extract the main dimensions related to
the participation process. Participation inequality, hierarchy and the cohesion of the
community constitute the main dimensions characterizing the participation mechanism
within communities. Obtained results highlight the necessity of guiding the organization and
development of the community to achieve successful target software
Abstract
Junta de Andalucía. Consejería de Economía, Innovación, Ciencia y Empleo P12-SEJ-328Additional details
Identifiers
- URL
- https://idus.us.es/handle/11441/32035
- URN
- urn:oai:idus.us.es:11441/32035