An Investigation of Work Practices Used by Companies Making Contributions to Established OSS Projects

Professionals contribute to open source software (OSS) projects as part of their employment. Previous research has addressed motivations of individuals and the ways they engage with OSS projects. However, there is a lack of research which examines and explains work practices used by companies in their engagement with projects. Work practices used by companies to contribute to five established OSS projects are investigated through examination of the actions of employees in public communication channels and draw on our experiences when analysing engagement with the same projects. We find that companies utilise work practices for contributing which are congruent with the circumstances and their capabilities that support their short and long term needs. We find that companies contribute to OSS projects in different ways, such as employing core project developers, making donations, and joining project steering committees in order to advance strategic interests.