Designing for participation: Three models for developer involvement in hybrid OSS projects

Abstract

This paper reports governance practices of three profit oriented companies that develop OSS software with the help of their respective open development communities. We explore how the companies allow development contributions from external stakeholders, and what knowledge they let out of their internal software development activities. The results lay ground for further research on how to organize openness of the software development process in hybrid setups where the needs of different stakeholders are partly competing - yet complementary.