A Conceptual Framework for Open Source Software Test Process

The broad acceptance and use of Open Source Software (OSS) has underscored the necessity of investigating the means of assuring their quality. With the aim of identifying an OSS test process, three well-known OSS projects, namely Apache HTTP server, Mozilla Web browser, and NetBeans IDE were studied. In these studies, three activities were found similar to the activities of the ISO/IEC Test Process Standard. However, major differences were observed in tasks related to each of the test process activities. To systematize the OSS test process, an Open Source Software Test Process Framework (OSS-TPF) is proposed. The alignment of OSS-TPF with the ISO/IEC Test Process Standard is illustrated.