Free and Open Source Software (FOSS) and Agile Software Development (ASD) have both been recognized as important software development methods; they have many success stories and share some similarities. However, there is a lack of research regarding the comprehensive integration of the two. This work presents a single case of a hybrid student FOSS project where ASD and FOSS were combined and reports if this combination benefits the contributors. We conducted Action Research (AR) with one sub-team of a large hybrid student FOSS project, and performed three AR cycles based on the Kanban method. The Kanban practices visualize the workflow, make policies explicit and implement feedback loops were examined during the AR cycles. They are discussed in detail in this paper, which has two main contributions: first, it describes a real world situation, where Kanban is applied to a hybrid student FOSS project, and second, it determines that the combination is experienced as beneficial by contributors. Study participants report a positive effect on communication with other teams and stakeholders due to the use of the Kanban and regard their time acquiring knowledge about Kanban practices as well spent.
Part 1: Open Source Software EngineeringInternational audienceThis paper describes problems that arose with the scaling and internationalization of the open source project Catrobat. The problems we faced were the lack of a centralized user management, insufficient scaling of our communication channels, and the necessity to adapt agile development techniques to remote collaboration. To solve the problems we decided to use a mix of open source tools (Git, IRC, LDAP) and commercial solutions (Jira, Confluence, GitHub) because we believe that this mix best fits our needs. Other projects can benefit from the lessons we learned during the reorganization of our knowledge base and communication tools, as infrastructure changes can be very labor-intensive and time-consuming
Even though Free and Open Source Software (FOSS) and Agile Software Development (ASD) have been recognized as important ways to develop software, share some similarities, and have many success stories, there is a lack of research regarding the comprehensive integration of both practices. This study attempts to consolidate these methods and to answer if FOSS and ASD can be combined successfully. Action Reseach (AR) is conducted with one sub-team of a large FOSS project. We performed two action research cycles based on the Kanban method. This paper has two main contributions; first, it describes a real world situation, where Kanban is applied to a FOSS project, and second, it suggests two new Kanban practices. These two methods are targeted specifically at FOSS projects and their characteristics.
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