Software Architectural Practices: Influences on the Open Source Ecosystem Health

Abstract

The health state of a software ecosystem has been determined by its capacity of growth and longevity. Three health indicators represent a healthy software ecosystem: robustness, productivity, and niche creation. Studies focusing on understanding the causes and processes of the state of health of ecosystems have used these indicators largely. Researchers have intensified studies to understand how to achieve a good health state. Despite the growing number of studies, there is little knowledge about influences and actions to achieve health and, more specifically, that consider the effects of the software architecture on the ecosystem. This article presents a study exploring seven open source ecosystems within different domains to describe the influence of architectural practices on the software ecosystem health in terms of their motivations and effects. Our main goal was to understand how the software architecture and related practices can contribute to a healthy ecosystem. We conducted a netnography-based study to gather practices used to create and maintain the software architecture of these ecosystems. Our study brings evidence that architectural practices play a critical role in the achievement of ecosystems’ health. We found fifty practices that have influenced different aspects of health indicators. We highlight the importance of five influential factors – business goals, experience, requirements, resources, and time-to-market – for motivating the adoption of such practices. These factors may also contribute to understanding different strategies used to achieve a good health state. Moreover, we proposed a novel health indicator, trustworthiness, that accounts for the normal operation of a healthy software ecosystem.