Systemist, Vol. 28(2), Jun. 2006 - 1 - Soft Systems Approach for Managing Free and Open Source Software Quality Anas Tawileh, Wendy Ivins and Omer Rana School of Computer Science, Cardiff University 5 The Parade, Cardiff CF24 3AA, UK {m.a.tawileh, w.k.ivins, o.f.rana}@cs.cardiff.ac.uk Abstract Quality in the free and open source software (F/OSS) community has been an explored area for a long while. This can be attributed to the lack of consensus about the notion of quality among different stakeholders. In this paper, we propose the use of Soft Systems Methodology as a radically different approach to software quality that could accommodate the systemic nature of the quality problem. The application of SSM was combined with UML to design and implement a supporting information system that would facilitate the integration of users' needs and expectations early in the development process. Introduction Software development practices have received considerable research attention and many initiatives have been proposed to improve the quality of their resultant artefacts. However, quality within relatively new development paradigms, such as free and open source software development, is still an area of ambiguity and concern. This can be attributed partially to the very nature of F/OSS development practices, which are based on the contribution and distributed collaboration of large numbers of developers from all over the world, and the highly informal information sharing structures of the community. However, we are of the opinion that it is necessary to reassess the very definition of quality associated with software artefacts, especially when viewed with reference to the F/OSS development process. The F/OSS community argue that the software they develop is technically superior to many commercial efforts and that their open and transparent development practices would provide for higher quality levels than those of proprietary software. End users, on the other hand, oppose these claims by describing the lack of appropriate end user participation mechanisms within the F/OSS community, and the consequent lack of regard of user needs and requirements. This issue is not exclusive to F/OSS software, which is evident in the increasing demand for more involvement of users in the development process -- proposed by recently evolving paradigms such as prototyping and extreme programming. However, the particular nature of open interaction and lack of authority in the F/OSS community magnifies the users’ feeling of alienation in the development process. The apparent lack of any consensus about the notion of quality at large further complicates the situation. In the literature, different definitions have been proposed to explain quality. The International Standards Organisation (ISO, 2002), for instance, defines quality as: "The totality of features and characteristics of a product or service that bear on its ability to satisfy specified or implied needs."