feature open source Achieving Quality in Open Source Software
Mark Aberdour, opensourcetesting.org

Reviewing objective studies of open source software quality can help us better understand how to achieve software quality in both open and closed-source development.

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he open source software community has published a substantial body of research on OSS quality. Focusing on this peer-reviewed body of work lets us draw conclusions from empirical data about how to achieve OSS quality, rather than relying on the large volume of evangelical opinion that has historically dominated this field. This body of published research has become much more critical and objective in its efforts to understand OSS development, and a consensus has emerged on the key components of high-quality OSS delivery. This article reviews this body of research and draws out lessons learned, investigating how the approaches for delivering high-quality OSS differ from, and can be incorporated into, closed-source software development. paring quality management in open source and closed-source software development. OSS development must also manage a geographically distributed team, requiring focus on coordination tasks. Yet OSS development seems to eschew best practices without software quality suffering. Indeed, an extensive study of 100 open source applications found that structural code quality was higher than expected and comparable with commercially developed software.1 The body of research demonstrates that OSS development does retain some of the underlying best-practice tasks from closed-source development—central management, code ownership, task ownership, planning and strategy, system testing, leadership, and decision making—but these tasks are executed differently. Further analysis of the differences shows that many of OSS development’s deviations are procedural—such as risk