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Newcomer integration and learning in technical support communities for open source software

Author:

Vandana SinghAuthors Info & Claims

GROUP '12: Proceedings of the 2012 ACM International Conference on Supporting Group Work

Pages 65 - 74

https://doi.org/10.1145/2389176.2389186

Published: 27 October 2012 Publication History

Abstract

In this paper we present results of an NSF funded project on exploring and understanding cyber learning that happens in online open source software (OSS) communities for technical support. We look across multiple OSS support communities (Firefox, Java, and Koha) to understand the behavior of newcomers in these communities, the role that the community response plays in their continued participation and newcomer best practices. We found that newcomers are not a homogenous group and majority of them display "model" behavior. We also found out that community response is critical for continued participation of newcomers. In our dataset, almost all non returning newcomers can be attributed to receiving no reply or a condescending reply from the community. We found that one third of newcomers' transition into a role of help givers in the community and demonstrate evidence of learning. We also highlight best practices for newcomers to be successful in these online communities.

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Cited By

Sun JRoychoudhury APaiva AAbreu RStorey M(2024)Sustaining Scientific Open-Source Software Ecosystems: Challenges, Practices, and OpportunitiesProceedings of the 2024 IEEE/ACM 46th International Conference on Software Engineering: Companion Proceedings10.1145/3639478.3639805(234-236)Online publication date: 14-Apr-2024
https://dl.acm.org/doi/10.1145/3639478.3639805
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
https://doi.org/10.1016/j.infsof.2024.107470
Matsumoto MTsugawa S(2023)On the Effectiveness of Features for Predicting User Churn in Reddit Communities2023 IEEE 47th Annual Computers, Software, and Applications Conference (COMPSAC)10.1109/COMPSAC57700.2023.00177(1173-1178)Online publication date: Jun-2023
https://doi.org/10.1109/COMPSAC57700.2023.00177
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Index Terms

Newcomer integration and learning in technical support communities for open source software
1. Human-centered computing

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Published In

cover image ACM Conferences

GROUP '12: Proceedings of the 2012 ACM International Conference on Supporting Group Work

October 2012

342 pages

ISBN:9781450314862

DOI:10.1145/2389176

General Chairs:
Thomas A. Finholt
University of Michigan, USA
,
Hilda Tellioğlu
Vienna University of Technology, Austria
,
Program Chairs:
Kori Inkpen
Microsoft Research, USA
,
Tom Gross
University of Bamburg, Germany

Copyright © 2012 ACM.

Permission to make digital or hard copies of all or part of this work for personal or classroom use is granted without fee provided that copies are not made or distributed for profit or commercial advantage and that copies bear this notice and the full citation on the first page. Copyrights for components of this work owned by others than ACM must be honored. Abstracting with credit is permitted. To copy otherwise, or republish, to post on servers or to redistribute to lists, requires prior specific permission and/or a fee. Request permissions from [email protected]

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SIGCHI: ACM Special Interest Group on Computer-Human Interaction

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New York, NY, United States

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Published: 27 October 2012

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Group '12: ACM 2012 International Conference on Support Group Work

October 27 - 31, 2012

Florida, Sanibel Island, USA

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Overall Acceptance Rate 125 of 405 submissions, 31%

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Cited By

Sun JRoychoudhury APaiva AAbreu RStorey M(2024)Sustaining Scientific Open-Source Software Ecosystems: Challenges, Practices, and OpportunitiesProceedings of the 2024 IEEE/ACM 46th International Conference on Software Engineering: Companion Proceedings10.1145/3639478.3639805(234-236)Online publication date: 14-Apr-2024
https://dl.acm.org/doi/10.1145/3639478.3639805
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
https://doi.org/10.1016/j.infsof.2024.107470
Matsumoto MTsugawa S(2023)On the Effectiveness of Features for Predicting User Churn in Reddit Communities2023 IEEE 47th Annual Computers, Software, and Applications Conference (COMPSAC)10.1109/COMPSAC57700.2023.00177(1173-1178)Online publication date: Jun-2023
https://doi.org/10.1109/COMPSAC57700.2023.00177
Butler SGamalielsson JLundell BBrax CSjoberg JMattsson AGustavsson TFeist JLonroth E(2021)On Company Contributions to Community Open Source Software ProjectsIEEE Transactions on Software Engineering10.1109/TSE.2019.291930547:7(1381-1401)Online publication date: 1-Jul-2021
https://doi.org/10.1109/TSE.2019.2919305
Sholler DSteinmacher IFord DAverick MHoye MWilson G(2019)Ten simple rules for helping newcomers become contributors to open projectsPLOS Computational Biology10.1371/journal.pcbi.100729615:9(e1007296)Online publication date: 12-Sep-2019
https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pcbi.1007296
Palmer JMcAddis NStaggers JRichards DAmidon TPflugfelder E(2019)Documentation as a cross-cutting concern of softwareProceedings of the 37th ACM International Conference on the Design of Communication10.1145/3328020.3353949(1-7)Online publication date: 4-Oct-2019
https://dl.acm.org/doi/10.1145/3328020.3353949
Steinmacher ITreude CGerosa M(2019)Let Me In: Guidelines for the Successful Onboarding of Newcomers to Open Source ProjectsIEEE Software10.1109/MS.2018.11016213136:4(41-49)Online publication date: Jul-2019
https://doi.org/10.1109/MS.2018.110162131
Buchan JMacDonell SYang J(2019)Effective team onboarding in Agile software development: techniques and goals2019 ACM/IEEE International Symposium on Empirical Software Engineering and Measurement (ESEM)10.1109/ESEM.2019.8870189(1-11)Online publication date: Sep-2019
https://doi.org/10.1109/ESEM.2019.8870189
Steinmacher IGerosa MConte TRedmiles D(2019)Overcoming Social Barriers When Contributing to Open Source Software ProjectsComputer Supported Cooperative Work10.1007/s10606-018-9335-z28:1-2(247-290)Online publication date: 1-Apr-2019
https://dl.acm.org/doi/10.1007/s10606-018-9335-z
Scaffidi C(2019)On-Ramps to Learning: The Progression of Learners Through Topics in the Online LabVIEW ForumInformation Technology and Systems10.1007/978-3-030-11890-7_74(791-801)Online publication date: 29-Jan-2019
https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-11890-7_74
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