Open Source Code Maintainability Analyzed

Posted by Zonk on Tuesday February 15, 2005 @09:30AM from the i-read-about-this-in-college dept.

gManZboy writes "Four computer scientists have done a formal analysis of five Open Source software projects to determine how being "Open Source" contributes to or inhibits source code maintainability. While they admit further research is needed, they conclude that open source is no magic bullet on this particular issue, and argue that Open Source software development should strive for even greater code maintainability." From the article: "The disadvantages of OSS development include absence of complete documentation or technical support. Moreover, there is strong evidence that projects with clear and widely accepted specifications, such as operating systems and system applications, are well suited for the OSS development model. However, it is still questionable whether systems like ERP could be developed successfully as OSS projects. "

1 of 264 comments (clear)

Min score:

Reason:

Sort:

Open Source ERP by stiller · 2005-02-15 10:03 · Score: 5, Interesting

However, it is still questionable whether systems like ERP could be developed successfully as OSS projects.

I could be mistaken, but isn't Compiere an established OSS ERP implementation?

I think the questin shouldn't be: 'Can software like ERP be developed as OSS?' But rather: 'Are there enough people in the OSS community interested enough to develop this kind of software without any form of financial support?' I think the answer has turned out to be 'no'. The same goes for things like (good) financial software, and anything that would require heaps of work, high precision and coordination, but no spectaculair result for the common man to brag about.