Ten simple rules for helping newcomers become contributors to open projects

Sholler, Dan; Steinmacher, Igor; Ford, Denae; Averick, Mara; Hoye, Mike; Wilson, Greg

doi:10.1371/journal.pcbi.1007296

Cited by 27 publications

(19 citation statements)

References 31 publications

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“…Results from qualitative analyses revealed that initial conditions to participate did not adequately predict long-term participation, but that situated learning and identity construction behaviors were positively linked to sustained participation. From another perspective (including LPP lens), Sholler et al [43] built upon existing literature to provide rules for helping newcomers become contributors to OSS projects.…”

Section: Newcomers' Onboardingmentioning

confidence: 99%

Google summer of code: Student motivations and contributions

Silva

Wiese

Germán

et al. 2020

Journal of Systems and Software

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Several open source software (OSS) projects expect to foster newcomers' onboarding and to receive contributions by participating in engagement programs, like Summers of Code. However, there is little empirical evidence showing why students join such programs. In this paper, we study the well-established Google Summer of Code (GSoC), which is a 3-month OSS engagement program that offers stipends and mentors to students willing to contribute to OSS projects. We combined a survey (students and mentors) and interviews (students) to understand what motivates students to enter GSoC. Our results show that students enter GSoC for an enriching experience, not necessarily to become frequent contributors. Our data suggest that, while the stipends are an important motivator, the students participate for work experience and the ability to attach the name of the supporting organization to their resumés. We also discuss practical implications for students, mentors, OSS projects, and Summer of Code programs.

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Section: Newcomers' Onboardingmentioning

confidence: 99%

Google summer of code: Student motivations and contributions

Silva

Wiese

Germán

et al. 2020

Journal of Systems and Software

Self Cite

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“…GitHub repository owners may choose to describe their preferred methods for collaboration by creating a markdown document called CONTRIBUTING.md (Sholler et al 2019). Lastly, GitHub-based developers may create a project webpage using services like GitHub Pages (https://pages.github.com/) that mirror some or all content within a repository to an external project website (Angulo & Aktunc, 2019;Tantisuwankul et al, 2019 (Varadharajan et al, 2019).…”

Section: Accepted Articlementioning

confidence: 99%

“…The third is to use GitHub for collaboration by submitting issues (i.e., making a comment on a repository) or pull requests (editing a copy of repository content and then asking the owners to “pull” the changes into existing content; Bissyandé et al., 2013). GitHub repository owners may choose to describe their preferred methods for collaboration by creating a markdown document called CONTRIBUTING.md (Sholler et al., 2019). Finally, GitHub‐based developers may create a project webpage using services like GitHub Pages (https://pages.github.com/) that mirror some or all content within a repository to an external project website (Angulo & Aktunc, 2019; Tantisuwankul et al., 2019).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

A Guide to Using GitHub for Developing and Versioning Data Standards and Reporting Formats

Crystal‐Ornelas

Varadharajan

Bond‐Lamberty

et al. 2021

Earth and Space Science

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“…Study after study has shown that diversity improves outcomes in fields from business to healthcare because many perspectives make for fewer errors [ 34 , 35 ]. Good design makes it easier for people who aren’t already immersed in your project to figure out where and how they can contribute to it [ 36 ], but just as good programmers consider things like packaging and deployment in their designs, so too do they think about the factors that influence contribution:…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%