Dirk Riehle's Industry and Research Publications

Category: 1. Software Industry

  • Uncovering the periphery: A qualitative survey of episodic volunteering in free/libre and open source software communities [TSE Journal]

    Uncovering the periphery: A qualitative survey of episodic volunteering in free/libre and open source software communities [TSE Journal]

    Abstract: Free/Libre and Open Source Software (FLOSS) communities are composed, in part, of volunteers, many of whom contribute infrequently. However, these infrequent volunteers contribute to the sustainability of FLOSS projects, and should ideally be encouraged to continue participating, even if they cannot be persuaded to contribute regularly. Infrequent contributions are part of a trend which…

  • Paid vs. volunteer open source work in China (projects) 3 / 3

    Paid vs. volunteer open source work in China (projects) 3 / 3

    We just finished redoing our original analysis of paid vs. volunteer work in open source for Gitee, a Chinese-dominated code hosting platform from China. We wanted to understand where China stands in open source. Previous blog posts looked at base data, e.g. the half/half split between paid and volunteer work, as well as developer behavior,…

  • Paid vs. volunteer open source work in China (developers) 2 / 3

    Paid vs. volunteer open source work in China (developers) 2 / 3

    We just finished redoing our original analysis of paid vs. volunteer work in open source for Gitee, a Chinese-dominated code hosting platform from China. We wanted to understand where China stands in open source. The previous blog post explained the half / half split between paid vs. volunteer time in terms of total work on…

  • Paid vs. volunteer open source work in China 1 / 3

    Paid vs. volunteer open source work in China 1 / 3

    In 2014 we published a study on paid vs. volunteer work in open source, using a representative sample of open source projects from 2008 (i.e. before GitHub). In 2008, open source activity was decidedly Western, with little contributions from China. In 2017, I finally found a student to redo the analysis for China. More specifically,…

  • Survey of open source compliance by working group of Bitkom (in German)

    Survey of open source compliance by working group of Bitkom (in German)

    The open source working group of Bitkom, a German IT association, has prepared a short survey on open source compliance in companies. My research group supports the survey. If you are interested, please take the survey (in German).

  • The cardinal sin of commercial open source?

    The cardinal sin of commercial open source?

    Redis is a popular open source database. Its proprietor, Redis Labs, recently announced that some add-on modules will not be open source any longer. The resulting outcry led to a defense and explanation of this decision that is telling. I have two comments and a lesson about product management of commercial open source. The two…