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ICSE 2021
Mon 17 May - Sat 5 June 2021

When inspiring software developers to contribute to open source software, the act is often referenced as an opportunity to build tools to support the developer community. However, that is not the only charge that propels contributions—growing interest in open source has also been attributed to software developers deciding to use their technical skills to benefit a common societal good. To understand how developers identify these projects, their motivations for contributing, and challenges they face, we conducted 21 semi-structured interviews with OSS for Social Good (OSS4SG) contributors. From our interview analysis, we identified themes of contribution styles that we wanted to understand at scale by deploying a survey to over 5765 OSS and Open Source Software for Social Good contributors. From our quantitative analysis of 517 responses, we find that the majority of contributors demonstrate a distinction between OSS4SG and OSS. Likewise, contributors described definitions based on \emph{what} societal issue the project was to mitigate and \emph{who} the the outcomes of the project were going to benefit. In addition, we find that OSS4SG contributors focus less on benefiting themselves by padding their resume with new technology skills and are more interested in leaving their mark on society at statistically significant levels. We also find that OSS4SG contributors evaluate the owners of the project significantly more than OSS contributors. These findings inform implications to help contributors identify high societal impact projects, help project maintainers reduce barriers to entry, and help organizations understand why contributors are drawn to these projects to sustain active participation.

Tue 25 May

Displayed time zone: Amsterdam, Berlin, Bern, Rome, Stockholm, Vienna change

19:35 - 20:55
1.5.4. Open Source: Participants' MotivationsTechnical Track / Journal-First Papers at Blended Sessions Room 4 +12h
Chair(s): Gregorio Robles Universidad Rey Juan Carlos
19:35
20m
Paper
Leaving My Fingerprints: Motivations and Challenges of Contributing to OSS for Social GoodTechnical Track
Technical Track
Yu Huang University of Michigan, Denae Ford Microsoft Research, Thomas Zimmermann Microsoft Research
Pre-print Media Attached
19:55
20m
Paper
Studying the Association between Bountysource Bounties and the Issue-addressing Likelihood of GitHub Issue ReportsJournal-First
Journal-First Papers
Jiayuan Zhou Centre for Software Excellence, Huawei, Canada, Shaowei Wang University of Manitoba, Cor-Paul Bezemer University of Alberta, Ying Zou Queen's University, Kingston, Ontario, Ahmed E. Hassan School of Computing, Queen's University
Pre-print
20:15
20m
Paper
Onboarding vs. Diversity, Productivity and Quality -- Empirical Study of the OpenStack EcosystemArtifact ReusableTechnical TrackArtifact Available
Technical Track
Armstrong Foundjem Queens University, Ellis E. Eghan Polytechnique Montreal, Bram Adams Queens University
Link to publication Pre-print Media Attached
20:35
20m
Paper
The Shifting Sands of Motivation: Revisiting What Drives Contributors in Open SourceTechnical Track
Technical Track
Marco Gerosa Northern Arizona University, USA, Igor Scaliante Wiese Federal University of Technology – Paraná - UTFPR, Bianca Trinkenreich Northern of Arizona Univeristy, Georg Link Bitergia, Gregorio Robles Universidad Rey Juan Carlos, Christoph Treude University of Adelaide, Igor Steinmacher Northern Arizona University, USA, Anita Sarma Oregon State University
Pre-print Media Attached

Wed 26 May

Displayed time zone: Amsterdam, Berlin, Bern, Rome, Stockholm, Vienna change

07:35 - 08:55
1.5.4. Open Source: Participants' MotivationsTechnical Track / Journal-First Papers at Blended Sessions Room 4
07:35
20m
Paper
Leaving My Fingerprints: Motivations and Challenges of Contributing to OSS for Social GoodTechnical Track
Technical Track
Yu Huang University of Michigan, Denae Ford Microsoft Research, Thomas Zimmermann Microsoft Research
Pre-print Media Attached
07:55
20m
Paper
Studying the Association between Bountysource Bounties and the Issue-addressing Likelihood of GitHub Issue ReportsJournal-First
Journal-First Papers
Jiayuan Zhou Centre for Software Excellence, Huawei, Canada, Shaowei Wang University of Manitoba, Cor-Paul Bezemer University of Alberta, Ying Zou Queen's University, Kingston, Ontario, Ahmed E. Hassan School of Computing, Queen's University
Pre-print
08:15
20m
Paper
Onboarding vs. Diversity, Productivity and Quality -- Empirical Study of the OpenStack EcosystemArtifact ReusableTechnical TrackArtifact Available
Technical Track
Armstrong Foundjem Queens University, Ellis E. Eghan Polytechnique Montreal, Bram Adams Queens University
Link to publication Pre-print Media Attached
08:35
20m
Paper
The Shifting Sands of Motivation: Revisiting What Drives Contributors in Open SourceTechnical Track
Technical Track
Marco Gerosa Northern Arizona University, USA, Igor Scaliante Wiese Federal University of Technology – Paraná - UTFPR, Bianca Trinkenreich Northern of Arizona Univeristy, Georg Link Bitergia, Gregorio Robles Universidad Rey Juan Carlos, Christoph Treude University of Adelaide, Igor Steinmacher Northern Arizona University, USA, Anita Sarma Oregon State University
Pre-print Media Attached