A two-dimensional classification model of OSS: Towards successful management of the evolution of OSS

Open source software (OSS) has become mainstream in software development, utilizing a global information infrastructure. The term OSS was coined in 1998 during discussion of the public release of Netscape browser software source code. Since then, OSS has continued to increase in visibility in the software industry. Corporate members are showing increasing commitment to OSS projects. OSS is a complicated social process to understand. OSS is a multi-faceted phenomenon including code, a licensing structure, a community, development best practices, a method of diffusion, and a philosophy. The author discusses multiple evolutionary paths for OSS and presents a two-dimensional classification model for OSS. The proposed model facilitates evolutionary design for OSS projects.