Johan Linåker

Context: Free and Open Source Software (FOSS) communities’ sustainability, meaning to remain operational without signs of weakening or interruptions to its development, is fundamental for the resilience and continuity of society’s digital infrastructure. Many of our digital services and products either leverage or entirely rely on FOSS somewhere in their software stack. However, FOSS sustainability is a multifaceted concept, and the impact of its decline on community products is less known. Objective: In this study, we sought to understand how the different aspects of FOSS sustainability impact software quality from a developmental trajectory perspective. Specifically, we aim to investigate whether and how incubation of FOSS projects or bypassing incubation correlates with software quality outcomes. Method: We selected 342 FOSS projects from the Apache Software Foundation that have either graduated, retired, or bypassed their incubator program (development trajectory phases specific for Apache FOSS projects). We used 16 sustainability metrics to examine their impact on eight software quality metrics (defect density, code coverage, medium risk complexity, very high risk complexity, number of large files, very large function size count, code duplication percentage, and most complex function LOC). We analyzed the decline in the sustainability metrics and their relationship with our selected software quality metrics using Bayesian data analysis, which incorporates probability distributions to represent the regression coefficients and intercepts. Results: We found that our selected sustainability metrics exhibit distinct relationships with software quality across different project trajectories. Graduated projects demonstrated the strongest sustainability-software quality (SWQ) relationship. In contrast, retired projects exhibited weaker relationships, despite receiving similar governance support during incubation. Bypassed projects, while not outperforming graduated ones, showed comparable sustainability-SWQ relationships. Conclusion: While structured incubation strengthens sustainability and SWQ in graduated projects, retired projects struggle to maintain strong sustainability-SWQ relationships, indicating that additional factors internal and specific to projects influence sustainability. This effect was evident among bypassed projects; their self-reliant sustainability practices yielded stronger sustainability-software quality (SWQ) compared to the retired ones.

Context: Open Source Software (OSS) is a vital public good, included across most of modern software stacks, significantly impacting GDP and national tech growth, while supporting interoperability, sovereignty, and transparency. However, systematic measurement of governmental OSS adoption remain limited. Research Aim: This study contributes to digital government maturity indexes by analyzing policies and support actions leveraging OSS for software reuse and collaborative development across 16 digitally mature countries, and proposing potential indicators for said indexes. It examines OSS policy formation, stated goals, key actors, and support mechanisms. Methodology: A qualitative approach is used combining desk research of policy documents with semi-structured interviews of government representatives, producing detailed country reports. These are cross-analyzed, focusing on OSS policy promotion, rationale, and implementation support. Results: Policies facilitating OSS reuse are widespread, targeting both inbound acquisition and outbound sharing, and are predominantly governed by central public sector organizations. Policy goals include interoperability, digital sovereignty, transparency, and cost efficiency, with security framed both as a risk and strength. Implementation is supported by diverse Open Source Program Offices (OSPOs) at multiple government levels, which foster capacity building, resource pooling, and sustainable project governance. Indicators are synthesized and proposed across 14 areas covering policy incentives and design, and implementation and support. Conclusions: OSS is a strategic enabler for public sector digital transformation. Clear policy frameworks, coupled with institutional support such as OSPOs, are essential. International digital maturity frameworks should expand OSS indicators to better guide and assess government adoption and impact.

Open and shared government data and services offer an instrument for achieving innovation, interoperability, and transparency in public services but require relevant competency, resources, and culture to realise, something that the public sector actors often lack. In this case study, we exemplify how these challenges to data sharing may be tackled through horizontal coordination in the case of Trafiklab, a public-private collaboration on collecting and publishing open public transport data and services.

The proliferation of open large language models (LLMs) is fostering a vibrant ecosystem of research and innovation in artificial intelligence (AI). However, the methods of collaboration used to develop open LLMs both before and after their public release have not yet been comprehensively studied, limiting our understanding of how open LLM projects are initiated, organized, and governed as well as what opportunities there are to foster this ecosystem even further. We address this gap through an exploratory analysis of open collaboration throughout the development and reuse lifecycle of open LLMs, drawing on semi-structured interviews with the developers of 14 open LLMs from grassroots projects, research institutes, startups, and Big Tech companies in North America, Europe, Africa, and Asia. We make three key contributions to research and practice. First, collaboration in open LLM projects extends far beyond the LLMs themselves, encompassing datasets, benchmarks, open source frameworks, leaderboards, knowledge sharing and discussion forums, and compute partnerships, among others. Second, open LLM developers have a variety of social, economic, and technological motivations, from democratizing AI access and promoting open science to building regional ecosystems and expanding language representation. Third, the sampled open LLM projects exhibit five distinct organizational models, ranging from single company projects to non-profit-sponsored grassroots projects, which vary in their centralization of control and community engagement strategies used throughout the open LLM lifecycle. We conclude with practical recommendations for stakeholders seeking to support the global community building a more open future for AI.

Free and Open Source Software (FOSS) communities' sustainability, meaning to remain operational without signs of weakening or interruptions to its development, is fundamental for the resilience and continuity of society's digital infrastructure. Many digital services and products either leverage or entirely rely on FOSS in their software stack. FOSS sustainability is a multifaceted concept, and the impact of its decline on community products is less known. In this study, we sought to understand how the different aspects of FOSS sustainability impact software quality from a life-cycle perspective. Specifically, we investigate whether and how support and incubation of FOSS projects or bypassing incubation correlate with software quality outcomes. We selected 342 FOSS projects from the Apache Software Foundation that have either graduated, retired, or bypassed their incubator program. We used 16 sustainability metrics to examine their impact on eight software quality metrics. Using Bayesian data analysis, we found that our selected sustainability metrics exhibit distinct relationships with software quality across different project trajectories. Graduated projects showed the strongest sustainability-software quality (SWQ) relationship, both during and post-incubation. In contrast, retired projects showed weaker relationships, despite receiving similar governance support. Bypassed projects, while not outperforming graduated ones, showed comparable sustainability-SWQ relationships. While structured incubation strengthens sustainability and SWQ in graduated projects, retired projects struggle to maintain strong sustainability-SWQ relationships, indicating that additional factors internal and specific to projects influence sustainability. This effect was evident among bypassed projects; their self-reliant sustainability practices yielded stronger sustainability-SWQ compared to the retired ones.