Open source reuse in commercial firms

The decision to use open source components raises a spectrum of issues, from requirements negotiation to product selection and integration. To explore these issues from an empirical perspective, the authors conducted a study based on structured interviews with the project leads of 12 firms. Their goal was to understand open source component use in the trenches-that is, how it played out in the development process for software developers and managers day to day. Here, they discuss the study, which revealed that the choice of code for reuse is based on functionality, integration capabilities, reuse capabilities, and cost. They also uncovered best practices in selecting reusable code and other issues related to code searching, licensing, and support. [PUBLICATION ABSTRACT]