Community matters most: factors that affect participant satisfaction with free/libre and open source software projects

Authors:
Brenda Chawner
Affiliations:
School of Information Management, Wellington, New Zealand
Venue:
Proceedings of the 2012 iConference
Year:
2012

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Abstract

Over the last 20 years, many free/libre and open source software (FLOSS) packages have been developed for library and information management (LIM) applications. These projects usually involve a distributed community of users and developers who jointly determine the software's future development. This paper presents the results of a web-based survey that examined which factors affect participant satisfaction with FLOSS projects. A total of 183 usable responses were received from people in 33 countries, representing over 30 different LIM FLOSS projects. Stepwise hierarchical regression showed that five factors (perceived project openness, perceived developer communication quality, perceived complexity, extent of participation, and perceived product openness) accounted for 44% of the variance in satisfaction. Community-oriented characteristics had the most influence, suggesting that in a FLOSS context, project participants need to focus on community development and support to increase overall satisfaction with the project.