A SLR on the Evaluation, Selection and Adoption Models for Open Source Software

Aim: This Systematic Literature Review (SLR) aims to identify specific models and methodologies used during the selection, evaluation, and adoption of OSS, classifying the adoption models and identifying the factors addressed in the existing models and methodologies.
Method: We evaluated 230 studies published between 2004 and 2016. For each paper, we investigated the evaluation area, in particular which quality aspects are addressed by the model or the methodology and the evaluation type used. For each model identified, we considered the availability of tools or plugins to support its application as well as existing empirical validations, and we extracted a set of factors, measures, and information that characterize the models or methodology analyzed.
Results: A total of 72 primary studies were identified, of which 57 passed the quality assessment. Only 10 studies elicit the motivation for OSS adoption while the remaining 47 propose several OSS evaluation models focusing on different technical aspects.
Conclusion: Several research gaps have been identified in this work. Most of the OSS evaluation models were defined based on users’ needs from the past, when OSS was considered a poor and low-quality alternative to Closed Source Software (CSS). We recommend that practitioners use the existing evaluation models, but take into account their current needs and evaluation criteria together with those elicited in previous studies.