Predicting open source contributor turnover from value-related discussions: An analysis of GitHub issues.

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Title: Predicting open source contributor turnover from value-related discussions: An analysis of GitHub issues.
Authors: Jamieson, Jack1 jack@jackjamieson.net, Yamashita, Naomi1 naomiy@ieee.org, Foong, Eureka2 eureka.foong@gmail.com
Source: ICSE: International Conference on Software Engineering. 2024, p1-13. 13p.
Subjects: Open source software, Github Inc., Software engineering, Power (Social sciences), Engineering software
Abstract: Discussions about project values are important for engineering software that meets diverse human needs and positively impacts society. Because value-related discussions involve deeply held beliefs, they can lead to conflicts or other outcomes that may affect motivations to continue contributing to open source projects. However, it is unclear what kind of value-related discussions are associated with significant changes in turnover. We address this gap by identifying discussions related to important project values and investigating the extent to which those discussions predict project turnover in the following months. We collected logs of GitHub issues and commits from 52 projects that share similar ethical commitments and were identified as part of the DWeb (Decentralized Web) community. We identify issues related to DWeb's core values of respectfulness, freedom, broadmindedness, opposing centralized social power, equity & equality, and protecting the environment. We then use Granger causality analysis to examine how changes in the proportion of discussions related to those values might predict changes in incoming and outgoing turnover. We found multiple significant relationships between value-related discussions and turnover, including that discussions about respectfulness predict an increase in contributors leaving and a decrease in new contributors, while discussions about social power predicted better contributor retention. Understanding these antecedents of contributor turnover is important for managing open source projects that incorporate human-centric issues. Based on the results, we discuss implications for open source maintainers and for future research. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]
Copyright of ICSE: International Conference on Software Engineering is the property of Association for Computing Machinery and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites without the copyright holder's express written permission. Additionally, content may not be used with any artificial intelligence tools or machine learning technologies. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)
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  Data: Predicting open source contributor turnover from value-related discussions: An analysis of GitHub issues.
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  Data: <searchLink fieldCode="AR" term="%22Jamieson%2C+Jack%22">Jamieson, Jack</searchLink><relatesTo>1</relatesTo><i> jack@jackjamieson.net</i><br /><searchLink fieldCode="AR" term="%22Yamashita%2C+Naomi%22">Yamashita, Naomi</searchLink><relatesTo>1</relatesTo><i> naomiy@ieee.org</i><br /><searchLink fieldCode="AR" term="%22Foong%2C+Eureka%22">Foong, Eureka</searchLink><relatesTo>2</relatesTo><i> eureka.foong@gmail.com</i>
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  Data: <searchLink fieldCode="JN" term="%22ICSE%3A+International+Conference+on+Software+Engineering%22">ICSE: International Conference on Software Engineering</searchLink>. 2024, p1-13. 13p.
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  Data: <searchLink fieldCode="DE" term="%22Open+source+software%22">Open source software</searchLink><br /><searchLink fieldCode="DE" term="%22Github+Inc%2E%22">Github Inc.</searchLink><br /><searchLink fieldCode="DE" term="%22Software+engineering%22">Software engineering</searchLink><br /><searchLink fieldCode="DE" term="%22Power+%28Social+sciences%29%22">Power (Social sciences)</searchLink><br /><searchLink fieldCode="DE" term="%22Engineering+software%22">Engineering software</searchLink>
– Name: Abstract
  Label: Abstract
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  Data: Discussions about project values are important for engineering software that meets diverse human needs and positively impacts society. Because value-related discussions involve deeply held beliefs, they can lead to conflicts or other outcomes that may affect motivations to continue contributing to open source projects. However, it is unclear what kind of value-related discussions are associated with significant changes in turnover. We address this gap by identifying discussions related to important project values and investigating the extent to which those discussions predict project turnover in the following months. We collected logs of GitHub issues and commits from 52 projects that share similar ethical commitments and were identified as part of the DWeb (Decentralized Web) community. We identify issues related to DWeb's core values of respectfulness, freedom, broadmindedness, opposing centralized social power, equity & equality, and protecting the environment. We then use Granger causality analysis to examine how changes in the proportion of discussions related to those values might predict changes in incoming and outgoing turnover. We found multiple significant relationships between value-related discussions and turnover, including that discussions about respectfulness predict an increase in contributors leaving and a decrease in new contributors, while discussions about social power predicted better contributor retention. Understanding these antecedents of contributor turnover is important for managing open source projects that incorporate human-centric issues. Based on the results, we discuss implications for open source maintainers and for future research. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]
– Name: AbstractSuppliedCopyright
  Label:
  Group: Ab
  Data: <i>Copyright of ICSE: International Conference on Software Engineering is the property of Association for Computing Machinery and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites without the copyright holder's express written permission. Additionally, content may not be used with any artificial intelligence tools or machine learning technologies. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract.</i> (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)
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RecordInfo BibRecord:
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      – Type: doi
        Value: 10.1145/3597503.3623340
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      – Code: eng
        Text: English
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        PageCount: 13
        StartPage: 1
    Subjects:
      – SubjectFull: Open source software
        Type: general
      – SubjectFull: Github Inc.
        Type: general
      – SubjectFull: Software engineering
        Type: general
      – SubjectFull: Power (Social sciences)
        Type: general
      – SubjectFull: Engineering software
        Type: general
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      – TitleFull: Predicting open source contributor turnover from value-related discussions: An analysis of GitHub issues.
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            NameFull: Jamieson, Jack
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            NameFull: Yamashita, Naomi
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            NameFull: Foong, Eureka
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            – D: 01
              M: 05
              Text: 2024
              Type: published
              Y: 2024
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            – TitleFull: ICSE: International Conference on Software Engineering
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