Version control and bug tracking systems contain large amounts of historical information that can give deep insight into the evolution of a software project. Unfortunately, these systems provide only insufficient support for a detailed analysis of software evolution aspects. We address this problem and introduce an approach for populating a release history database that combines version data with bug tracking data and adds missing data not covered by version control systems such as merge points. Then simple queries can be applied to the structured data to obtain meaningful views showing the evolution of a software project. Such views enable more accurate reasoning of evolutionary aspects and facilitate the anticipation of software evolution. We demonstrate our approach on the large Open Source project Mozilla that offers great opportunities to compare results and validate our approach. 1.

Version management tools might be seen as a prerequisite for open source development today as projects become too large to be managed by maintainers alone. Yet the OS process depends on fluid coordination and collaboration, with the underlying qualities of this process based on firm trust and respect for fellow developers. This paper is a study of how debate over version tools reflects governance and decision making in an OS community. The paper is based on a study of the Linux kernel community as it first saw a partial acceptance of the CVS tool, and then later adopted BK. The paper explains the adoption processes in relation to governance concerns, licence issue, and questions of technical performance. 1.

Special Issue This paper considers the question of how the Linux open source collective structures and organizes itself as complexity and uncertainty increase. The study focuses on Version Control Software adoption in the Linux Kernel collective and the controversies it entails. The analysis draws on theory drawn from Science and Technology Studies and Actor Network Theory to consider the processes by which technology comes to play a role as an active agent within the collective. Through this approach the study helps to reveal how organizing occurs and how restructuring around technical means is negotiated based on constitutional as well as technical and performance criteria. What emerges from the analysis is the strong collective agency to which nonhuman actors contribute, and thus, their place at the core of open source activity.