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Evolution of an Open Source Community Network

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Advances in Network Analysis and its Applications

Part of the book series: Mathematics in Industry ((MATHINDUSTRY,volume 18))

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Abstract

The study attempts to better understand the evolution of the structure of a network using two snapshots of the developer-project affiliations in an Open Source Software (OSS) community. We use complex networks and social network theory to guide our analysis. We proceed by first extracting separate bipartite networks of projects in each of the five development stages – planning, pre-alpha, alpha, beta and production/stables stages. Then, by analyzing changes in the network using degree distributions, assortativity, component sizes, visualizations and p-star models, we try to infer the project-joining behavior of the OSS developers. Simulations are used to establish the significance of some findings. Highlights of our results are the higher levels of assortativity and networking in the Beta and Stable subnetworks, and a surprisingly higher level of connectivity of the Planning subnetwork. Significant clustering of projects is observed based on the programming language but not on other project attributes, including even licenses.

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Acknowledgements

This project is funded by the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council of Canada (Grant number 410-2007-1579) and the SFU Discovery Grants program.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Beedie School of Business, Simon Fraser University WMC 3317, 8888 University Drive, Burnaby, BC, V5A 1S6, Canada

    Nilesh Saraf (Associate Professor)

  2. School of Communication, Simon Fraser University, 8888 University Drive, Burnaby, BC, V5A 1S6, Canada

    Andrew Seary (Research Associate)

  3. College of Business and Economics, Lehigh University RBC 370, Rauch Business Center, 621 Taylor Street, Bethlehem, PA, 18015, USA

    Deepa Chandrasekaran (Assistant Professor)

  4. Communication, Annenberg School for Communication and Professor, Management and Organization, Marshall School of Business, University of Southern California, 3502 Watt Way, Los Angeles, CA, 90089-0281, USA

    Peter Monge (Professor)

Authors
  1. Nilesh Saraf
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  2. Andrew Seary
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  3. Deepa Chandrasekaran
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  4. Peter Monge
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Corresponding author

Correspondence to Nilesh Saraf .

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Editors and Affiliations

  1. , School of Computer Science, Carleton University, Colonel By Drive 1125, Ottawa, K1S 5B6, Ontario, Canada

    Evangelos Kranakis

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Saraf, N., Seary, A., Chandrasekaran, D., Monge, P. (2012). Evolution of an Open Source Community Network. In: Kranakis, E. (eds) Advances in Network Analysis and its Applications. Mathematics in Industry, vol 18. Springer, Berlin, Heidelberg. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-642-30904-5_16

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