Coordination practices within FLOSS development teams: The bug fixing process

Kevin Crowston, Barbara Scozzi

2004

Abstract

Free/Libre Open Source Software (FLOSS) is primarily developed by distributed teams. Developers contribute from around the world and coordinate their activity almost exclusively by means of email and bulletin boards. FLOSS development teams some how profit from the advantages and evade the challenges of distributed software development. Despite the relevance of the FLOSS both for research and practice, few studies have investigated the work practices adopted by these development teams. In this paper we investigate the structure and the coordination practices adopted by development teams during the bug-fixing process, which is considered one of main areas of FLOSS project success. In particular, based on a codification of the messages recorded in the bug tracking system of four projects, we identify the accomplished tasks, the adopted coordination mechanisms, and the role undertaken by both the FLOSS development team and the FLOSS community. We conclude with suggestions for further research.

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Paper Citation


in Harvard Style

Crowston K. and Scozzi B. (2004). Coordination practices within FLOSS development teams: The bug fixing process . In Proceedings of the 1st International Workshop on Computer Supported Activity Coordination - CSAC, (ICEIS 2004) ISBN 972-8865-08-2, pages 21-30. DOI: 10.5220/0002683000210030


in Bibtex Style

@conference{csac04,
author={Kevin Crowston and Barbara Scozzi},
title={Coordination practices within FLOSS development teams: The bug fixing process},
booktitle={Proceedings of the 1st International Workshop on Computer Supported Activity Coordination - CSAC, (ICEIS 2004)},
year={2004},
pages={21-30},
publisher={SciTePress},
organization={INSTICC},
doi={10.5220/0002683000210030},
isbn={972-8865-08-2},
}


in EndNote Style

TY - CONF
JO - Proceedings of the 1st International Workshop on Computer Supported Activity Coordination - CSAC, (ICEIS 2004)
TI - Coordination practices within FLOSS development teams: The bug fixing process
SN - 972-8865-08-2
AU - Crowston K.
AU - Scozzi B.
PY - 2004
SP - 21
EP - 30
DO - 10.5220/0002683000210030