Anatomy of open source software projects: Evolving dynamics of innovation landscape in open source software ecology

Open source software (OSS) has been studied as a popular example of open innovation. Models used in open software development are innovative in several ways, to the point that they are only recognized as valid models at all since they have actually produced mature and stable software more in a swift fashion. Some studies attempt to answer the OSS´s development model, way to produce the quality products and distributed development model driven by motivated voluntary developers found in OSS. However, they are usually focused on handful projects and often miss to represent the whole world of OSS development. We analyze FLOSSMetrics database and SourceForge repository. By examining these, we attempt to identify 1) factual landscape of OSS projects, 2) correlation between different measures including developers´ activities and consumers´ interests. This analysis is also supplemented by empirical research on world re-known OSS projects to identify the implication of vendor-led OSS projects. We find that OSS projects are hardly to be seen as loci of future open innovation in several ways. We also conclude that prior belief which altruistic developers donating time and effort for the common good is highly romanticized view of open source software.