adaptive system approach

Academic research on open source software has outlined the functionalities of open source software to a great extent, but a comprehensive theoretical framework comprising different aspects of open source software is still missing. A theoretical understanding of the open source software phenomenon will not only be a significant contribution to the academia but also to the businesses looking for more effective and innovative approaches for software development. To address this issue, first, the current research reviews and analyzes various theoretical frameworks, their applicability in the open source software context, their contributions, and their limitations. Secondly, the structure of open source software projects through complex adaptive systems is explored. The current research contributes to the existing literature by providing a detailed discussion of various theoretical perspectives on open source software, and offers a theorization of open source software based on complex adaptive systems