Deriving project health indicators of Open Source Software projects using social network analysis

Abstract

Free/Libre Open Source Software (FLOSS) differs from closed source software development in a variety of ways. There are different development processes, distinct motivations,toolsets and structures of a development team. In both cases it is possible to analyze the current quality of software. As a difference, Open Source Software provides the chance to look behind the scenes. Due to the open development process it is possible to analyze not only the product quality but also the structure of the community and the development process behind.<br />This diploma thesis takes up this advantages and uses publicly available data in a social context in order to extract information about how members of a community act and interact. The interpretation of this information and the analysis of change over time allows to draw conclusions about the structure of a community which is used in order to evaluate the current health status and future development of a FLOSS project.<br />The instruments introduced in this thesis which meet the requirements for evaluating the health status of FLOSS projects are provided within the concept of "Social Network Analysis". Social Network Analysis can be seen as a roof for measures describing and analyzing the composition, size and scope of social networks which consist out of actors and relations combining them.<br />The possibilities of the Social Network Analysis are discussed and health indicators which are applied to specific examples in the practical part of this thesis are introduced. In order to calculate relevant measures or illustrate the dependencies within a network an own tool called "SNAnalyzer" was developed.