Addressing User Requirements in Open Source Software: The Role of Online Forums

Authors

Arif Raza, National University of Science and TechnologyFollow
Luiz Fernando Capretz, University of Western OntarioFollow

Document Type

Article

Publication Date

3-2014

Volume

8

Issue

1

Journal

Journal of Computer Science and Technology

First Page

57

URL with Digital Object Identifier

10.5626/JCSE.2014.8.1.57

Last Page

63

Abstract

User satisfaction has always been important in the success of software, regardless of whether it is closed and proprietary or open source software (OSS). OSS users are geographically distributed and include technical as well as novice users. However, it is generally believed that if OSS was more usable, its popularity would increase tremendously. Hence, users and their requirements need to be addressed in the priorities of an OSS environment. Online public forums are a major medium of communication for the OSS community. The research model of this work studies the relationship between user requirements in open source software and online public forums. To conduct this research, we used a dataset consisting of 100 open source software projects in different categories. The results show that online forums play a significant role in identifying user requirements and addressing their requests in open source software.

Notes

Creative Commons License