Developing a new Capability Maturity Model-like approach to assessing the quality of OSS

Currently, many companies use OSS code to build prototypes and then rewrite the code internally for the final system because of concerns about how the code has been developed. This approach reduces both the savings that OSS could provide and the return to the OS Community, since the additions and/or modifications required for the final product are usually kept internally, even if they do not provide any significant competitive advantage. It is just too much effort to integrate them into the original OS code that inspired the development. To facilitate trustworthy use of OSS, the activity will research different Open Source processes adopted by the OS Community and by the industrial partners of this project, and propose a CMM-like model for the implementation of trustworthy OS processes. This model will be discussed with CMM’s originators, the Software Engineering Institute (SEI), with a view to formalising it as an official extension of CMMI. The project will also specify and develop tools enabling the use of this model. The ultimate goal of the activity is not to force companies and OS Communities to change radically their development process but to propose possible incremental adaptations to their existing ones, so that the production and the usage of OSS becomes more trustable.

CONTACT

A6 Activity leader: Alberto Sillitti – University of Bozen - Email: