Reliability Modeling of Successive Release of Software Using NHPP

This paper presents an effective reliability model for multi-release open source software (OSS), which derived based on software lifecycle development process (SDLC) proposed by Jorgensen [1]. Most of OSS reliability models do not consider the unique characteristic of OSS in the model. This model, combine bugs removed from pre-commit test and parallel debugging test phases. Furthermore, the proposed model is based on the assumptions that the total number of fault removal of the new release depends on the reported faults from the previous release and on the faults generated due to adding some new adds-on to the existing software system. The parameters of model have been estimated using three releases of the Apache project. In addition, three models in the literature are selected to compare with the proposed model. Comparison indicates that the proposed model is a suitable reliability model that fits the data across all the releases of the Apache project.