Journal of Management Information Systems
Information Systems Research
Journal of Systems and Software
Network sampling and classification: An investigation of network model representations
Decision Support Systems
The onion patch: migration in open source ecosystems
Proceedings of the 19th ACM SIGSOFT symposium and the 13th European conference on Foundations of software engineering
Knowledge Collaboration in Online Communities
Organization Science
Proceedings of the South African Institute for Computer Scientists and Information Technologists Conference
Adoption of open source software in organizations: A socio-cognitive perspective
The Journal of Strategic Information Systems
A Study of Open Source Software Development from Control Perspective
Journal of Database Management
Effective immunization of online networks: a self-similar selection approach
Information Technology and Management
Analysis of cluster formations on planer cells based on genetic programming
Computational & Mathematical Organization Theory
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The aim of this paper is twofold: (1) to conceptually understand membership dynamics in the open source software (OSS) community, and (2) to explore how different network characteristics (i.e., network size and connectivity) influence the stability of an OSS network. Through the lens of Ising theory, which is widely accepted in physics, we investigate basic patterns of interaction and present fresh conceptual insight into dynamic and reciprocal relations among OSS community members. We also perform computer simulations based on empirical data collected from two actual OSS communities. Key findings include: (1) membership herding is highly present when external influences (e.g., the availability of other OSS projects) are weak, but decreases significantly when external influences increase, (2) propensity for membership herding is most likely to be seen in a large network with random connectivity, and (3) for large networks, when external influences are weak, random connectivity will result in higher network strength than scale-free connectivity (as external influences increase, however, the reverse phenomenon is observed). In addition, scale-free connectivity appears to be less volatile than random connectivity in response to an increase in the strength of external influences. We conclude with several implications that may be of significance to OSS stakeholders in particular, and to a broader range of online communities in general.