Skip to main content
SpringerLink
Log in

Power Relations Within an Open Source Software Ecosystem

  • Conference paper
  • First Online:
Software Business (ICSOB 2021)

Part of the book series: Lecture Notes in Business Information Processing ((LNBIP,volume 434))

Included in the following conference series:

  • 976 Accesses

Abstract

Context: Relationships within open-source software ecosystems (OSSECO) emerge from the collaboration within the ecosystem. Power relations are present in this context whenever an entity has the power of making other entities act as it wants them to act. Therefore, these power relations could affect collaboration within an OSSECO. Objective: This research aims at investigating power relations, their benefits and challenges, and providing an understanding of them within OSSECO. The goal is to provide power relations forms description together with the power relations dynamics associated with them. Method: A systematic mapping study was conducted to extract information about power relations (forms, dynamics, benefits, and challenges) from previous studies. At the end, 10 studies reporting power relations within OSSECO were selected. Next, the data extracted from those was analyzed to understand what power relations affect the OSSECO and how this happens. Based on the results, the power relation forms and dynamics within OSSECO are defined. Results: The systematic mapping study show that power relations are present and affect relationships and interactions within an OSSECO. Moreover, 5 power relations forms and 7 power relations dynamics within OSSECO are presented. Implications: Identifying power relations that might be present within an OSSECO would enable those who study or are members of the ecosystem’s community to enhance power relations that support collaboration and to avoid those who can lead developers to leave the OSSECO.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this chapter

Log in via an institution
Chapter
USD 29.95
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Available as PDF
  • Read on any device
  • Instant download
  • Own it forever
eBook
USD 54.99
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Available as EPUB and PDF
  • Read on any device
  • Instant download
  • Own it forever
Softcover Book
USD 69.99
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Compact, lightweight edition
  • Dispatched in 3 to 5 business days
  • Free shipping worldwide - see info

Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout

Purchases are for personal use only

Institutional subscriptions

References

  1. AlMarzouq, M., Grover, V., Thatcher, J.B.: Taxing the development structure of open source communities: an information processing view. Decis. Support Syst. 80, 27–41 (2015)

    Article  Google Scholar 

  2. Franco-Bedoya, O., Ameller, D., Costal, D., Franch, X.: Open source software ecosystems: a systematic mapping. Inf. Softw. Technol. 91, 160–185 (2017)

    Article  Google Scholar 

  3. Gerosa, M., et al.: The shifting sands of motivation: revisiting what drives contributors in open source. In: IEEE/ACM 43rd International Conference on Software Engineering (ICSE) on Proceedings, pp. 1046–1058 (2021)

    Google Scholar 

  4. Foucault, M.: Discipline And Punish: the Birth of the Prison. Pantheon Books, New York (1977)

    Google Scholar 

  5. Telleria, J.: Power relations? What power relations? The de-politicising conceptualisation of development of the UNDP. Third World Q. 38(9), 2143–2158 (2017)

    Article  Google Scholar 

  6. Stehr, N., Adolf, M.: Knowledge/power/resistance. Society 55, 193–198 (2018)

    Article  Google Scholar 

  7. Leonidou, L., Aykol, B., Lindsay, V., Katsikeas, C., Talias, M.: Drivers and outcomes of exercised power in buyer-seller relationships: a meta-analysis (2014)

    Google Scholar 

  8. Costa, L., Fontão, A., Santos, R.: Investigating asset governance mechanisms in a proprietary software ecosystem. In: XVI Brazilian Symposium on Information Systems (SBSI 2020) on Proceedings, pp. 1–8. Association for Computing Machinery (2020). Article No. 25

    Google Scholar 

  9. Alves, C., Valença, G., Franch, X.: Exercising power in software ecosystems. IEEE Softw. 36(3), 50–54 (2019)

    Article  Google Scholar 

  10. Valença, G., Alves, C., Jansen, S.: Strategies for managing power relationships in software ecosystems. J. Syst. Softw. 144, 478–500 (2018)

    Article  Google Scholar 

  11. Kitchenham, B., Charters, S.: Guidelines for performing systematic literature reviews in software engineering. Staffordshire, UK (2007)

    Google Scholar 

  12. Liao, Z., Wang, N., Liu, S., Zhang, Y., Liu, H., Zhang, Q.: Identification-method research for open-source software ecosystems. Symmetry 11, 182–199 (2019)

    Article  Google Scholar 

  13. Teixeira, J., Robles, G., González-Barahona, J.M.: Lessons learned from applying social network analysis on an industrial Free/Libre/Open source software ecosystem. J. Internet Serv. Appl. 6(1), 1–27 (2015). https://doi.org/10.1186/s13174-015-0028-2

    Article  Google Scholar 

  14. Eckhardt, E., Kaats, E., Jansen, S., Alves, C.: The merits of a meritocracy in open source software ecosystems. In: 2014 European Conference on Software Architecture Workshops (ECSAW 2014) on Proceedings, pp. 1–6. Association for Computing Machinery, New York (2014)

    Google Scholar 

  15. Farias, V., Wiese, I., Santos, R.: What characterizes an influencer in software ecosystems? IEEE Softw. 36(1), 42–47 (2019)

    Article  Google Scholar 

  16. Plakidas, K., Stevanetic, S., Schall, D., Ionescu, T., Zdun, U.: How do software ecosystems evolve? A quantitative assessment of the R ecosystem. In: 20th International Systems and Software Product Line Conference (SPLC 2016) on Proceedings, pp. 89–98. Association for Computing Machinery, New York (2016)

    Google Scholar 

  17. Jergensen, C., Sarma, A., Wagstrom, P.: The onion patch: migration in open source ecosystems. In: 19th ACM SIGSOFT Symposium and the 13th European Conference on Foundations of Software Engineering (ESEC/FSE 2011) on Proceedings, pp. 70–80. Association for Computing Machinery, New York (2011)

    Google Scholar 

  18. Linåker, J., Runeson, P.: Public sector platforms going open: creating and growing an ecosystem with open collaborative development. In: 16th International Symposium on Open Collaboration (OpenSym 2020) on Proceedings, pp. 1–10. Association for Computing Machinery, New York (2020)

    Google Scholar 

  19. Linåker, J., Regnell, B., Damian, D.: A method for analyzing stakeholders’ influence on an open source software ecosystem’s requirement engineering process. Requirements Eng. 25, 115–130 (2020)

    Article  Google Scholar 

  20. Jensen, C., Scacchi, W.: Role migration and advancement processes in OSSD projects: a comparative case study. In: 29th International Conference on Software Engineering (ICSE 2007) on Proceedings, pp. 364–374 (2007)

    Google Scholar 

Download references

Acknowledgements

The authors thank to UNIRIO and FAPERJ (Proc. 211.583/2019) for the partial support.

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Federal University of the State of Rio de Janeiro, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil

    Victor Farias & Rodrigo Santos

  2. Federal University of Technology - Parana, Campo Mourão, Brazil

    Igor Wiese

Authors
  1. Victor Farias
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  2. Igor Wiese
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  3. Rodrigo Santos
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Victor Farias .

Editor information

Editors and Affiliations

  1. Free University of Bozen-Bolzano, Bolzano, Italy

    Xiaofeng Wang

  2. University of Oslo, Oslo, Norway

    Antonio Martini

  3. University of South Eastern Norway, Bø, Norway

    Anh Nguyen-Duc

  4. University of Oslo and SINTEF, Oslo, Norway

    Viktoria Stray

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

Copyright information

© 2021 Springer Nature Switzerland AG

About this paper

Check for updates. Verify currency and authenticity via CrossMark

Cite this paper

Farias, V., Wiese, I., Santos, R. (2021). Power Relations Within an Open Source Software Ecosystem. In: Wang, X., Martini, A., Nguyen-Duc, A., Stray, V. (eds) Software Business. ICSOB 2021. Lecture Notes in Business Information Processing, vol 434. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-91983-2_14

Download citation

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-91983-2_14

  • Published:

  • Publisher Name: Springer, Cham

  • Print ISBN: 978-3-030-91982-5

  • Online ISBN: 978-3-030-91983-2

  • eBook Packages: Computer ScienceComputer Science (R0)

Publish with us

Policies and ethics

Search

Navigation