research-article

Overcoming open source project entry barriers with a portal for newcomers

Authors:

Igor Steinmacher,

Tayana Uchoa Conte,

Christoph Treude,

Marco Aurélio GerosaAuthors Info & Claims

ICSE '16: Proceedings of the 38th International Conference on Software Engineering

Pages 273 - 284

https://doi.org/10.1145/2884781.2884806

Published: 14 May 2016 Publication History

Abstract

Community-based Open Source Software (OSS) projects are usually self-organized and dynamic, receiving contributions from distributed volunteers. Newcomer are important to the survival, long-term success, and continuity of these communities. However, newcomers face many barriers when making their first contribution to an OSS project, leading in many cases to dropouts. Therefore, a major challenge for OSS projects is to provide ways to support newcomers during their first contribution. In this paper, we propose and evaluate FLOSScoach, a portal created to support newcomers to OSS projects. FLOSScoach was designed based on a conceptual model of barriers created in our previous work. To evaluate the portal, we conducted a study with 65 students, relying on qualitative data from diaries, self-efficacy questionnaires, and the Technology Acceptance Model. The results indicate that FLOSScoach played an important role in guiding newcomers and in lowering barriers related to the orientation and contribution process, whereas it was not effective in lowering technical barriers. We also found that FLOSScoach is useful, easy to use, and increased newcomers' confidence to contribute. Our results can help project maintainers on deciding the points that need more attention in order to help OSS project newcomers overcome entry barriers.

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Index Terms

Overcoming open source project entry barriers with a portal for newcomers
1. Human-centered computing
  1. Collaborative and social computing
    1. Collaborative and social computing systems and tools
      1. Open source software
2. Software and its engineering
  1. Software creation and management
    1. Collaboration in software development

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cover image ACM Conferences

ICSE '16: Proceedings of the 38th International Conference on Software Engineering

May 2016

1235 pages

ISBN:9781450339001

DOI:10.1145/2884781

General Chair:
Laura Dillon
Michigan State University
,
Program Chairs:
Willem Visser
Stellenbosch University, South Africa
,
Laurie Williams
North Carolina State University

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Published: 14 May 2016

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May 14 - 22, 2016

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Tan XGong YHuang GWu HZhang L(2024)How to Gain Commit Rights in Modern Top Open Source Communities?Proceedings of the ACM on Software Engineering10.1145/36607841:FSE(1727-1749)Online publication date: 12-Jul-2024
https://dl.acm.org/doi/10.1145/3660784
Qadir SNiser ACaddle XAlsoubai APark JWisniewski P(2024)Towards a Safer Digital Future: Exploring Stakeholder Perspectives on Creating a Sustainable Youth Online Safety CommunityExtended Abstracts of the 2024 CHI Conference on Human Factors in Computing Systems10.1145/3613905.3651019(1-10)Online publication date: 11-May-2024
https://dl.acm.org/doi/10.1145/3613905.3651019
Soliman NKang HLatzke MBragg JChang JZhang AKarger D(2024)Mitigating Barriers to Public Social Interaction with Meronymous CommunicationProceedings of the CHI Conference on Human Factors in Computing Systems10.1145/3613904.3642241(1-26)Online publication date: 11-May-2024
https://dl.acm.org/doi/10.1145/3613904.3642241
Choudhuri RLiu DSteinmacher IGerosa MSarma ARoychoudhury APaiva AAbreu RStorey M(2024)How Far Are We? The Triumphs and Trials of Generative AI in Learning Software EngineeringProceedings of the IEEE/ACM 46th International Conference on Software Engineering10.1145/3597503.3639201(1-13)Online publication date: 20-May-2024
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Feng ZKimura KTrinkenreich BSarma ASteinmacher I(2024)Guiding the way: A systematic literature review on mentoring practices in open source software projectsInformation and Software Technology10.1016/j.infsof.2024.107470171(107470)Online publication date: Jul-2024
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Miller CKästner CVasilescu BChandra SBlincoe KTonella P(2023)“We Feel Like We’re Winging It:” A Study on Navigating Open-Source Dependency AbandonmentProceedings of the 31st ACM Joint European Software Engineering Conference and Symposium on the Foundations of Software Engineering10.1145/3611643.3616293(1281-1293)Online publication date: 30-Nov-2023
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Salerno Lde França Tonhão SSteinmacher ITreude CLaakso MMonga MSimon Sheard J(2023)Barriers and Self-Efficacy: A Large-Scale Study on the Impact of OSS Courses on Student PerceptionsProceedings of the 2023 Conference on Innovation and Technology in Computer Science Education V. 110.1145/3587102.3588789(320-326)Online publication date: 29-Jun-2023
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