Software ecosystems as a paradigm for large-scale software development encompass a complex mix of technical, business, and social aspects. While significant research has been conducted to understand both the technical and business aspects, the social aspects of software ecosystems are less well understood. To close this gap, this paper presents the results of an empirical study aimed at understanding the influence of social aspects on developers' participation in software ecosystems. We conducted 25 interviews with mobile software developers and an online survey with 83 respondents from the mobile software development community. Our results point out a complex social system based on continued interaction and mutual support between different actors, including developers, friends, end users, developers from large companies, and online communities. These findings highlight the importance of social aspects in the sustainability of software ecosystems both during the initial adoption phase as well as for long-term permanence of developers.
There are several mobile platforms that compete with each other to attract software developers. However, it is not yet well understood which factors developers take into account when deciding on a particular platform. We report on an exploratory study that aims to address this gap. Through semi-structured interviews that used diffusion of innovations theory as conceptual framework, we identified some of these factors. For instance, we uncovered that developers perceive the Android platform as more accessible and compatible with their existing knowledge, but that they fear its fragmentation. Some developers choose iOS simply because sales are more lucrative on that platform. Our preliminary findings can help developers to decide which platforms to use and platform vendors to optimize their offerings to developers.
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