The hard life of open source software project newcomers

Igor Steinmacher; Igor Scaliante Wiese; Tayana Conte; Marco Aurelio Gerosa; David Redmiles

doi:10.1145/2593702.2593704

The hard life of open source software project newcomers

Igor Steinmacher, Igor Scaliante Wiese, Tayana Conte, Marco Aurelio Gerosa, David Redmiles

Research output: Chapter in Book/Report/Conference proceeding › Conference contribution

54 Scopus citations

Abstract

While onboarding an open source software (OSS) project, contributors face many different barriers that hinder their contribution, leading in many cases to dropouts. Many projects leverage the contribution of outsiders and the sustainability of the project relies on retaining some of these newcomers. In this paper, we discuss some barriers faced by newcomers to OSS. The barriers were identified using a qualitative analysis on data obtained from newcomers and members of OSS projects. We organize the results in a conceptual model composed of 38 barriers, grouped into seven different categories. These barriers may motivate new studies and the development of appropriate tooling to better support the onboarding of new developers.

Original language	English (US)
Title of host publication	7th International Workshop on Cooperative and Human Aspects of Software Engineering, CHASE 2014 - Proceedings
Publisher	Association for Computing Machinery, Inc
Pages	72-78
Number of pages	7
ISBN (Electronic)	9781450328609
DOIs	https://doi.org/10.1145/2593702.2593704
State	Published - Jun 2 2014
Externally published	Yes
Event	7th International Workshop on Cooperative and Human Aspects of Software Engineering, CHASE 2014 - Hyderabad, India Duration: Jun 2 2014 → Jun 3 2014

Publication series

Name	8th International Workshop on Cooperative and Human Aspects of Software Engineering, CHASE 2014 - Proceedings

Conference

Conference	7th International Workshop on Cooperative and Human Aspects of Software Engineering, CHASE 2014
Country/Territory	India
City	Hyderabad
Period	6/2/14 → 6/3/14

Keywords

Barrier
Grounded theory
Joining
New developers
Newbies
Newcomers
Onboarding
Open source software
Qualitative study

ASJC Scopus subject areas

Software
Human Factors and Ergonomics

Access to Document

10.1145/2593702.2593704

Cite this

Steinmacher, I., Wiese, I. S., Conte, T., Gerosa, M. A., & Redmiles, D. (2014). The hard life of open source software project newcomers. In 7th International Workshop on Cooperative and Human Aspects of Software Engineering, CHASE 2014 - Proceedings (pp. 72-78). (8th International Workshop on Cooperative and Human Aspects of Software Engineering, CHASE 2014 - Proceedings). Association for Computing Machinery, Inc. https://doi.org/10.1145/2593702.2593704

The hard life of open source software project newcomers. / Steinmacher, Igor; Wiese, Igor Scaliante; Conte, Tayana et al.
7th International Workshop on Cooperative and Human Aspects of Software Engineering, CHASE 2014 - Proceedings. Association for Computing Machinery, Inc, 2014. p. 72-78 (8th International Workshop on Cooperative and Human Aspects of Software Engineering, CHASE 2014 - Proceedings).

Research output: Chapter in Book/Report/Conference proceeding › Conference contribution

Steinmacher, I, Wiese, IS, Conte, T, Gerosa, MA & Redmiles, D 2014, The hard life of open source software project newcomers. in 7th International Workshop on Cooperative and Human Aspects of Software Engineering, CHASE 2014 - Proceedings. 8th International Workshop on Cooperative and Human Aspects of Software Engineering, CHASE 2014 - Proceedings, Association for Computing Machinery, Inc, pp. 72-78, 7th International Workshop on Cooperative and Human Aspects of Software Engineering, CHASE 2014, Hyderabad, India, 6/2/14. https://doi.org/10.1145/2593702.2593704

Steinmacher I, Wiese IS, Conte T, Gerosa MA, Redmiles D. The hard life of open source software project newcomers. In 7th International Workshop on Cooperative and Human Aspects of Software Engineering, CHASE 2014 - Proceedings. Association for Computing Machinery, Inc. 2014. p. 72-78. (8th International Workshop on Cooperative and Human Aspects of Software Engineering, CHASE 2014 - Proceedings). doi: 10.1145/2593702.2593704

Steinmacher, Igor ; Wiese, Igor Scaliante ; Conte, Tayana et al. / The hard life of open source software project newcomers. 7th International Workshop on Cooperative and Human Aspects of Software Engineering, CHASE 2014 - Proceedings. Association for Computing Machinery, Inc, 2014. pp. 72-78 (8th International Workshop on Cooperative and Human Aspects of Software Engineering, CHASE 2014 - Proceedings).

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The hard life of open source software project newcomers

Abstract

Publication series

Conference

Keywords

ASJC Scopus subject areas

Access to Document

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