Attracting , Onboarding , and Retaining Newcomer Developers in Open Source Software Projects

Open source software (OSS) is a good example of global software development. Numerous OSS projects depend on contributions from volunteers from all over the world. For OSS projects, keeping a good influx of new developers is critical. In this paper, we present a developer joining model that represents the stages that are common to and the forces that are influential to newcomers being drawn or pushed away from a project. We claim that, studying these aspects, especially the hindering factors, can lead to new challenges and research opportunities around awareness, coordination practices, socialization, knowledge management, and possibly others. Author

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