OpenStack开源软件开发者协作网络分析

以著名的开源云计算平台OpenStack项目为例研究大型开源软件的开发.以该项目Git提交数据中父子哈希码关系为基础构筑代码协作修订网络,分析其结构与演化.并在此基础上探究OpenStack项目的内在的自发组织模式和人员集体工作模式.研究结果表明,OpenStack的开发可以看作一个具有稳定的中央节点群的网络型系统的集体知识创造活动.核心开发人员在其中起主导作用,但一般开发人员从开发总工作量上是整个项目的主体.OpenStack的子项目与社区演化具有显著关联性.开发人员的工作领域呈现高度的集中性和持续稳定性.研究结果对于理解大型开源软件项目的自组织型开发人员协作结构的形成和演化,及大规模群体的社会化创新活动模式具有参考意义.

Study on collaborative network of OpenStack OSS developers

The development of large-scale open-source software (OSS) is investigated in this paper with the case of OpenStack, which is a recently well-known open-source cloud computing platform. The collaborative coding network is constructed by extracting the Hash-code associations in the Git commit data of this software project; and the structure and evolution of this network is examined. The intrinsic organization mode and the mode of collective action of developers is explored accordingly. The results of explorative data analytics indicate that, as a collective knowledge-creation action of a networked system with a stable core, the development of OpenStack is prominently directed by its core developers, while the massive average developers' contributions constitute the largest fraction in the entire project. Furthermore, strong correlation between the subprojects of OpenStack and the communities of the collaboration network is identified, both statically and dynamically. The majority of developers are highly focused in that one developer usually adheres to one single subproject in the full duration of investigate period. The overall results of this work may contribute to deepen our knowledge on the self-organization of collaborative social structure in large-scale OSS projects, and more generally may have some reference value for understanding the underlying modes of massive socialized innovations.