Forking-based development has made it easier and straightforward for developers to contribute to open-source software (OSS). Developers can fork an existing project and add changes in their local version without interrupting the development process in the main project. Despite the efficiency of OSS, more than 80% of the projects are not sustainable. Identifying the elements related to OSS success can enlighten developers regarding the sustainability of a project. In our study, we explore whether or not the inefficiencies which arise due to forking-based development like redundant development, fragmented communities, lack of modularity, etc. have any relation to the outcome of a project in terms of sustainability. We formulate eight metrics to quantify attributes for projects in the ASFI dataset. To find the correlation between the metrics and the success of a project, we built a logistic regression model to metrics with significant p-values and performed backward stepwise regression analysis, using the stepAIC function in R to cross-check our findings. The findings show that modularity, centralized management index, and hard forks are consequential for the success of a project. Developers can use the outcomes of our research to plan and structure their projects to increase the probability of their success.
翻译:开发商为开放源码软件(OSS)做贡献是容易和直截了当的。开发商可以在不干扰主项目的开发过程的情况下,将现有项目叉开并增加其本地版本的修改。尽管OSS的效率很高,但80%以上的项目是不可持续的。确定与OSS成功相关的要素可以使开发商了解项目的可持续性。在我们的研究中,我们探索由于基于源码的发展(如冗余的开发、分散的社区、模块化的缺乏等)所产生的效率低下是否与项目在可持续性方面的结果有任何关系。我们为ASFI数据集中的项目制定了八项量化属性的指标。为了发现衡量指标与项目成功之间的关联,我们建立了一个物流回归模型,以具有重大p价值的衡量标准为基础,并进行了后向后向的回归分析。我们的研究发现,模块化、集中管理指数和硬叉等是否与项目的成功相关。开发商可以利用我们研究成果来规划和构建项目,以提高其成功概率。