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ICSE
2003
IEEE-ACM

Toward an Understanding of the Motivation of Open Source Software Developers

15 years 2 days ago
Toward an Understanding of the Motivation of Open Source Software Developers
An Open Source Software (OSS) project is unlikely to be successful unless there is an accompanied community that provides the platform for developers and users to collaborate. Members of such communities are volunteers whose motivation to participate and contribute is of essential importance to the success of OSS projects. In this paper, we aim to create an understanding of what motivates people to participate in OSS communities. We theorize that learning is one of the motivational forces. Our theory is grounded in the learning theory of Legitimate Peripheral Participation, and is supported by analyzing the social structure of OSS communities and the co-evolution between OSS systems and communities. We also discuss practical implications of our theory for creating and maintaining sustainable OSS communitie as well as for software engineering research and education..
Yunwen Ye, Kouichi Kishida
Added 09 Dec 2009
Updated 09 Dec 2009
Type Conference
Year 2003
Where ICSE
Authors Yunwen Ye, Kouichi Kishida
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