Improving Open Source Software Patch Contribution Process: Methods and Tools

The patch contribution process (PCP) is very important to the sustainability of OSS projects. Nevertheless, there are several issues on patch contribution in mature OSS projects, which include time consuming process, lost and ignored patches, slow review process. These issues are recognized by researchers and OSS projects, but have not been addressed. In this dissertation, I apply Kanban method to guide process improvement and tools development to reduce PCP cycle time.