Voting for Bugs in Firefox

Paper presented at FLOSS Workshop 2010 and in an earlier version at OSS 2010

13 Pages Posted: 26 Nov 2010

See all articles by Jean-Michel Dalle

Jean-Michel Dalle

Université Paris VI Pierre et Marie Curie

Matthijs L. den Besten

GSCM-Montpellier Business School

Date Written: July 1, 2010

Abstract

In this paper, we present preliminary evidence suggesting that the voting mechanism implemented by the open-source Firefox community is a means to provide a supplementary voice to mainstream users. This evidence is drawn from a sample of bug-reports and from information on voters both found within the bug-tracking system (Bugzilla) for Firefox. Although voting is known to be a relatively common feature within the governance structure of many open-source communities, our paper suggests that it also plays a role as a bridge between the mainstream users in the periphery of the community and developers at the core.

Suggested Citation

Dalle, Jean-Michel and den Besten, Matthijs L., Voting for Bugs in Firefox (July 1, 2010). Paper presented at FLOSS Workshop 2010 and in an earlier version at OSS 2010, Available at SSRN: https://ssrn.com/abstract=1713785 or http://dx.doi.org/10.2139/ssrn.1713785

Jean-Michel Dalle

Université Paris VI Pierre et Marie Curie ( email )

175 Rue du Chevaleret
Paris, 75013
France

Matthijs L. Den Besten (Contact Author)

GSCM-Montpellier Business School ( email )

2300, Avenue des Moulins
Montpellier, 34185
France

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