Brooks' versus Linus' law: an empirical test of open source projects

ABSTRACT

In this paper, we investigate collective action in open source software development, where both volunteers and paid professionals essentially produce a public good. By using a large dataset, our logistic regression shows that adding more programming staff to the software projects increases their probability of success. This finding contradicts some dominant theories on software development as well as on the provision of public goods. As governments worldwide increasingly rely on open source software, our analysis has concrete implications for the public sector in contributing to the success of these projects.

REFERENCES

• 1: Ghosh, R. A., Glott, R., Gerloff, K., Schmitz, P-E., Aisola, K., and Boujraf, A. 2007. "Study on the Effect on the Development of the Information Society of European Public Bodies Making Their Own Software Available as Open Source: Final Report." http://www.publicsectoross.info/images/resources/15_154_file.pdf.
• 2: Wong, K. 2004. Free/Open Source Software: Government Policy. United Nations Development Programme-Asia Pacific Development Information Programme (UNDP-APDIP).
• 3: Frederick P. Brooks, Jr., The Mythical Man-Month: Essays on Softw, Addison-Wesley Longman Publishing Co., Inc., Boston, MA, 1978
• 4: Olson, M. 1965. The Logic of Collective Action: Public Goods and the Theory of Groups. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press. p. 35
• 5: Abdel-Hamid, T. K., and Madnick, S. E. 1990. "The Elusive Silver Lining: How We Fail to Learn from Software Development Failures." Sloan Management Review 32: 1. pp.39--48.
• 6: Jones, P. 2000. Brooks' law and Open Source: The more the merrier? IBM, 4(10) http://www-106.ibm.com/developerworks/library/merrier.html.
• 7: Eric S. Raymond , Tim O'Reilly, The Cathedral and the Bazaar, O'Reilly & Associates, Inc., Sebastopol, CA, 1999
• 8: English, R. and Schweik, C. M. Forthcoming. "Identifying Success and Abandonment of FLOSS Commons: A Classification of Sourceforge.net Projects." Upgrade: The European Journal for the Informatics Professional.

INDEX TERMS

Primary Classification:
  K. Computing Milieux
  K.6 MANAGEMENT OF COMPUTING AND INFORMATION SYSTEMS
      K.6.3 Software Management
          Subjects: Software development

Additional Classification:
  J. Computer Applications
  J.1 ADMINISTRATIVE DATA PROCESSING
      Subjects: Government

  K. Computing Milieux
  K.4 COMPUTERS AND SOCIETY
      K.4.0 General
  K.5 LEGAL ASPECTS OF COMPUTING
      K.5.0 General
  K.6 MANAGEMENT OF COMPUTING AND INFORMATION SYSTEMS
      K.6.1 Project and People Management
  K.8 PERSONAL COMPUTING
      K.8.1 Application Packages
          Subjects: Freeware/shareware

General Terms:
Design, Management, Theory

Keywords:
collective action, government, open source software, public goods, public sector, software development