RAW DATA: How OSS Platforms can Support OSS Selection

Context: Individuals and organizations are increasingly adopting Open Source Software (OSS) for the benefits it provides. Although the OSS evaluation process and the information it requires are nowadays well known, users still have problems finding the right information and are not supported by any decision support system. Objective: The aim of this study is to bridge the gap between OSS adoption models, especially with the aim of supporting users in evaluating the OSS they are planning to select. Method: To reach this aim, we studied the processes and the information considered by the major OSS assessment models. Then we carried out a case study to identify which information can be automatically retrieved from the main OSS repositories, namely GitHub, SonarCloud, and StackExchange. Finally, we characterized the maturity of the projects available on these three platforms. Results: Projects available on the three platforms are commonly old, stable, and mature ones. Moreover, thanks to the API provided, we were able to extract most of the information not commonly accessible from the main website. Conclusions: Our results confirm that it is possible to develop a decision sup-port system based on these three platforms, and that is also possible to evaluate both the quality and the maturity of the projects available there.

研究背景：个人与组织愈发倾向于采用开源软件（Open Source Software, OSS），以依托其自带的多项优势。尽管当前开源软件的评估流程及所需评估信息已较为成熟，但用户仍难以获取精准匹配的相关信息，且尚无任何决策支持系统可为其提供相关协助。

研究目标：本研究旨在填补开源软件采纳模型间的研究空白，核心目标为协助用户对拟选用的开源软件开展评估工作。

研究方法：为达成上述研究目标，我们首先梳理了主流开源软件评估模型所采用的评估流程与考量信息；随后开展案例研究，明确可从三大主流开源软件仓库——即GitHub、SonarCloud与StackExchange——中自动获取的信息类型；最终对这三大平台上的开源项目成熟度进行了特征刻画。

研究结果：三大平台上的开源项目普遍具备存续时间较长、运行稳定且成熟度较高的特征。此外，依托各平台提供的应用程序编程接口（Application Programming Interface, API），我们可提取出多数无法通过平台官方网站直接获取的信息。

研究结论：本研究结果证实，依托这三大平台开发决策支持系统具备可行性，同时也可对平台上开源项目的质量与成熟度开展有效评估。