Understanding Open Source Software Development

这个项目考察了开源软件（OSS）运动的动态，这是一个对世界经济产生深远影响的真正的行为和技术难题。OSS社区已经开发了互联网基础设施的很大一部分，并取得了许多杰出的技术成就，但没有传统项目管理技术、组织结构、面对面交互的好处，而且在大多数情况下，没有直接的金钱补偿。我们试图了解预测开发人员保留和项目成功的因素，并对OSS网络随着时间的增长进行建模，以便为有关OSS运动的政策决策提供信息。我们利用Hackman & Oldham的工作特征模型和March的角色身份结构的修改，开发了一个开发者动机和项目有效性的组织行为/社会心理学模型，并使用模拟、数据挖掘和基于代理的建模技术来模拟OSS网络如何随着时间的推移而发展。

This project examines the dynamics of the Open Source Software (OSS) movement, a genuine behavioral and technical puzzle with a far-reaching impact on the world's economy. The OSS community has developed a substantial portion of the infrastructure of the internet and has many outstanding technical achievements, without the benefit of traditional project management techniques, organizational structure, face to face interaction, and in most cases, without direct monetary compensation. We seek to understand the factors that predict developer retention and project success, and to model the growth of the OSS network over time in order to inform policy decisions regarding the OSS movement. We develop an organizational behavior/social psychological model of developer motivation and project effectiveness using a modification of Hackman & Oldham's job characteristics model and March's role identity construct, and use simulation, data mining, and agent-based modeling techniques to model how the OSS network develops over time.