# Analyzing Key Features of Open Source Software Survivability with Random Forest
## 4 Results and Analysis
### Analysis of Feature Impacts
#### 4.2.3 Insights into Feature Influence on OSS Survival  
The combined results of the feature importance and PDP analyses in this study indicate that OSS project survivability is determined by the complex interplay of various factors. While community activity and popularity positively contribute to reducing issue retention rates and enhancing survivability, project age and code complexity could negatively impact survivability. Moreover, some features tend to exert significant influence only within specific ranges, highlighting the need for additional interpretation.  
From the perspective of community activity, features such as stars and watchers, which reflect project popularity, were found to correlate with faster issue resolution and lower issue retention rates. For instance, the PDP analysis of stars revealed a steep decline in the issue retention rate as the star count increased up to 4000, indicating that greater community attention and support attract more contributors, fostering quicker issue resolution and higher long-term survivability. Conversely, the PDP analysis of forks showed an increase in issue retention rates as fork counts rose, suggesting that while more contributors might join the project, difficulties in coordination and management complexity could slow issue resolution.  
LoC and contributor count also appeared as factors influencing OSS project survivability. For LoC, larger codebases were associated with slightly higher issue retention rates, indicating that increased code volume adds maintenance burdens and potentially delays issue resolution. Contributor count showed an initial increase in issue retention rates as contributor numbers rose but stabilized beyond a certain threshold. This finding suggests that while an increase in contributors can initially benefit project maintenance, exceeding a certain level may introduce challenges in coordination and management.  
Additionally, code complexity and project age negatively impact survivability. Higher cyclomatic complexity and older project age are linked to higher issue retention rates. Increased code complexity likely hampers maintenance efforts, as seen in the upward trend in issue retention rates with rising cyclomatic complexity. Similarly, older projects show a tendency for unresolved issues to persist longer, indicating that aging projects may face growing maintenance and issue resolution challenges. These findings emphasize the significant role of obsolescence and management burdens in affecting OSS survivability.  
To enhance the long-term survivability of OSS projects, strategies focusing on fostering community participation and increasing project popularity in the early stages are essential.  
Additionally, the systematic management of code complexity, codebase size, contributor count, and project aging is necessary. Early-stage strategies such as community engagement initiatives and marketing play a critical role in attracting attention, while ensuring balanced growth through complexity management and maintaining a sustainable level of contributors and code size will support long-term survivability. These comprehensive interpretations provide actionable guidelines for OSS managers, offering a meaningful foundation for devising strategies to ensure the success and sustainability of future OSS projects.