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Inner Source Definition, Benefits, and Challenges

Published: 05 December 2016 Publication History

Abstract

Inner Source (IS) is the use of open source software development practices and the establishment of an open source-like culture within organizations. The organization may still develop proprietary software but internally opens up its development. A steady stream of scientific literature and practitioner reports indicates the interest in this research area. However, the research area lacks a systematic assessment of known research work: No model exists that defines IS thoroughly. Various case studies provide insights into IS programs in the context of specific organizations but only few publications apply a broader perspective. To resolve this, we performed an extensive literature survey and analyzed 43 IS related publications plus additional background literature. Using qualitative data analysis methods, we developed a model of the elements that constitute IS. We present a classification framework for IS programs and projects and apply it to lay out a map of known IS endeavors. Further, we present qualitative models summarizing the benefits and challenges of IS adoption. The survey provides the first broad review of IS literature and systematic arrangement of IS research results.

Supplementary Material

a67-capraro-apndx.pdf (capraro.zip)
Supplemental movie, appendix, image and software files for, Inner Source Definition, Benefits, and Challenges

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Published In

cover image ACM Computing Surveys
ACM Computing Surveys  Volume 49, Issue 4
December 2017
666 pages
ISSN:0360-0300
EISSN:1557-7341
DOI:10.1145/3022634
  • Editor:
  • Sartaj Sahni
Issue’s Table of Contents
Permission to make digital or hard copies of all or part of this work for personal or classroom use is granted without fee provided that copies are not made or distributed for profit or commercial advantage and that copies bear this notice and the full citation on the first page. Copyrights for components of this work owned by others than the author(s) must be honored. Abstracting with credit is permitted. To copy otherwise, or republish, to post on servers or to redistribute to lists, requires prior specific permission and/or a fee. Request permissions from [email protected].

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Publication History

Published: 05 December 2016
Accepted: 01 September 2016
Revised: 01 April 2016
Received: 01 October 2015
Published in CSUR Volume 49, Issue 4

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Author Tags

  1. Inner source
  2. internal open source
  3. open collaboration
  4. software development efficiency
  5. software development methods
  6. software development productivity
  7. software engineering
  8. taxonomy

Qualifiers

  • Survey
  • Research
  • Refereed

Funding Sources

  • Black Duck Software Inc. grant to the Open Source Research Group at Friedrich-Alexander-Universität Erlangen-Nürnberg

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  • (2024)Does adopting inner source increase job satisfaction? A social capital perspective using a mixed-methods approachThe Journal of Strategic Information Systems10.1016/j.jsis.2024.10181933:1(101819)Online publication date: Mar-2024
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  • (2022)Is Inner Source the Next Stage in the Agile Revolution?Co-creating for Context in the Transfer and Diffusion of IT10.1007/978-3-031-17968-6_10(130-136)Online publication date: 2-Oct-2022
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