[Ica-osgeo-labs] How much code should Open Source leaders write?

[Jachym Cepicky]

I feel (and experience) about the same

J

po 21. 12. 2015 v 21:44 odesílatel Cameron Shorter <
cameron.shorter at gmail.com> napsal:

> Here is a summary of conversations between Charlie Schweik and myself,
> leading to what I think could be some really interesting Open Source
> Research. Anyone interested?
>
>
> http://cameronshorter.blogspot.com.au/2015/12/how-much-code-should-open-source.html
>
> Which is more effective for building an open source project? Do you write
> code, or engage with the community?
> My team are regularly asked variants on this question when called in to
> review software systems, which include open source extensions and have been
> out-innovated by the open source community.
> Just writing code leads to a development team of one. It works, but is
> slow. The illusive promise of open source is the potential to attract
> external developers. But to attract and retain developers you need to
> connect with them, talk with them, support them, encourage them. You need
> to help them achieve their goals, which might be only slightly related to
> yours. And hopefully, after all that, they might contribute back. It is a
> tough ask, which is probably why 5 out of 6 open source projects are
> abandoned <https://www.thecommonsjournal.org/articles/10.18352/ijc.397/>.
> So what percentage of time should be dedicated to communication in order
> to build a successful open source community? My gut feeling, after a
> decades contributing to open source, is around 20% to 40%. But I'd love to
> find some solid research to back this up.
> An extensive study by Schweik and English, sponsored by the U.S. National
> Science Foundation,researched the factors that lead some open source
> projects to ongoing success, while others become abandoned
> <https://www.thecommonsjournal.org/articles/10.18352/ijc.397/>. Key
> attributes of successful projects included:
>
>    - A clear vision
>    - Leaders who lead by doing
>    - Good documentation and a quality web presence
>    - Fine scaled task granularity, making it easier for new users to
>    contribute
>
> However, I'm unaware of studies, including Schweik and English's, which
> have mined communication archives, such as email lists, to correlate
> communication styles with project success. Why is that? Communication is
> the lifeblood of any organisation, so you'd think that by now there would
> be evidence based guidance on optimising our communication techniques.
> Especially considering how much value could be easily mined from these
> archives.
> Here are some indicators I'd like to see mined from communication archives
> and then correlating with project success rates:
>
>    - What is the frequency, response-rate and response-time to
>    conversations?
>    - What is the proportion of experienced verses in-experienced people
>    initiating and responding to topics?
>    - What is the "signal to noise" ratio? Do people write concisely?
>    - Is communication constructive? Do topics lead to practical actions
>    or implementations?
>    - Is communication respectful and supportive? (This might be hard to
>    measure, but I'd argue that practicing mutual respect is key to community
>    building.)
>    - How much time do people spend coding compared to the time they spend
>    communicating? (This could be roughly calculated based on lines of code
>    written vs lines of email composed).
>    - Which communication mediums are more effective? Email, IRC, twitter,
>    blogs, other?
>    - What styles lead to communities becoming more or less engaged?
>
> Based on results of the information mining, I'd expect to discover that
> successful open source projects:
>
>    - Have core contributors responding quickly to community questions
>    - Have a community who are supportive of each other, resulting in many
>    community members having the confidence to answer new user questions
>    - Having new ideas being initiated, discussed and then implemented
>    from many members of the community
>
>
> --
> Cameron Shorter,
> Software and Data Solutions Manager
> LISAsoft
> Suite 112, Jones Bay Wharf,
> 26 - 32 Pirrama Rd, Pyrmont NSW 2009
>
> P +61 2 9009 5000,  W www.lisasoft.com,  F +61 2 9009 5099
>
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