Understanding Free/Open Source Software Development Processes

Overview

This paper introduces a special issue of Software Process - Improvement and Practice focusing on processes found in Free or Open Source Software Development (F/OSSD) projects. It seeks to provide a background review of research in this area through a review of selected empirical studies of F/OSSD processes. The results and findings from a survey of empirical studies of F/OSSD give rise to an interesting variety of opportunities and challenges for understanding these processes, which are identified along the way. The papers in this special issue further advance understanding of what processes characterize and shape F/OSSD.