| 1 |
No support available. The original developer of the code is not known, not locatable, or is refusing support. |
| 2 |
Minimal support available. There is known contact information available for the original developer(s) and they are willing to provide minimal, occasional support. |
| 3 |
Some support available. Contact information is available and there is a willingness to provide some support infrequently, without guarantees. This may include things such as providing makefiles or different flavors of the code for different contexts. |
| 4 |
Moderate systematic support is available. Latest updates/patches are usually made available. Support is available, but may be intermittent |
| 5 |
Support provided by an informal user community. There is an informal user community that provides answers, for example, via a Web site FAQ. |
| 6 |
Formal support available. Support is centralized in a web site containing relevant resources, answers to FAQ, and other useful information. |
| 7 |
Organized/defined support by developer available. There is organized and defined support by the developer with email/telephone help desk and links to case studies and other relevant information. No continuity of support implied. |
| 8 |
Support available by the organization that developed the asset. The support is by an organization and is well defined with frequent updates, releases, etc., and help desk. Continuity of support is implied. Support may be free or fee-based and may be offered by a third party |
| 9 |
Large user community with well-defined support available. This may include resources such as a help desk, a Web site for the latest information, an active discussion group willing to answer questions, frequent patches and updates as well as consolidation of changes by the community. One example would be the Linux operating system. |