Uncovering the periphery: a qualitative survey of episodic volunteering in free/libre and open source software communities

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dc.contributor.authorBarcomb, Ann
dc.contributor.authorKaufmann, Andreas
dc.contributor.authorRiehle, Dirk
dc.contributor.authorStol, Klaas-Jan
dc.contributor.authorFitzgerald, Brian
dc.contributor.funderScience Foundation Irelanden
dc.date.accessioned2018-12-12T15:51:45Z
dc.date.available2018-12-12T15:51:45Z
dc.date.issued2018-10-01
dc.date.updated2018-12-12T15:35:04Z
dc.description.abstractFree/Libre and Open Source Software (FLOSS) communities are composed, in part, of volunteers, many of whom contribute infrequently. However, these infrequent volunteers contribute to the sustainability of FLOSS projects, and should ideally be encouraged to continue participating, even if they cannot be persuaded to contribute regularly. Infrequent contributions are part of a trend which has been widely observed in other sectors of volunteering, where it has been termed "episodic volunteering" (EV). Previous FLOSS research has focused on the Onion model, differentiating core and peripheral developers, with the latter considered as a homogeneous group. We argue this is too simplistic, given the size of the periphery group and the myriad of valuable activities they perform beyond coding. Our exploratory qualitative survey of 13 FLOSS communities investigated what episodic volunteering looks like in a FLOSS context. EV is widespread in FLOSS communities, although not specifically managed. We suggest several recommendations for managing EV based on a framework drawn from the volunteering literature. Also, episodic volunteers make a wide range of value-added contributions other than code, and they should neither be expected nor coerced into becoming habitual volunteers.en
dc.description.sponsorshipScience Foundation Ireland (SFI grants 13/RC/2094; 15/SIRG/329)en
dc.description.statusPeer revieweden
dc.description.versionPublished Versionen
dc.format.mimetypeapplication/pdfen
dc.identifier.citationBarcomb, A., Kaufmann, A., Riehle, D., Stol, K. J. and Fitzgerald, B. (2020) 'Uncovering the Periphery: A Qualitative Survey of Episodic Volunteering in Free/Libre and Open Source Software Communities', IEEE Transactions on Software Engineering, 46(9), pp. 962-980.en
dc.identifier.doi10.1109/TSE.2018.2872713
dc.identifier.endpage18en
dc.identifier.issn0098-5589
dc.identifier.journaltitleIEEE Transactions On Software Engineeringen
dc.identifier.startpage1en
dc.identifier.urihttps://hdl.handle.net/10468/7207
dc.language.isoenen
dc.publisherInstitute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE)en
dc.relation.projectinfo:eu-repo/grantAgreement/SFI/SFI Research Centres/13/RC/2094/IE/Lero - the Irish Software Research Centre/en
dc.relation.urihttps://ieeexplore.ieee.org/document/8477174
dc.rightsThis work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 3.0 License. For more information, see http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/en
dc.rights.urihttp://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/
dc.subjectCompaniesen
dc.subjectLensesen
dc.subjectOpen source softwareen
dc.subjectSustainable developmenten
dc.subjectTask analysisen
dc.subjectCommunity managementen
dc.subjectEpisodic volunteeringen
dc.subjectFree softwareen
dc.subjectPeripheral developeren
dc.titleUncovering the periphery: a qualitative survey of episodic volunteering in free/libre and open source software communitiesen
dc.typeArticle (peer-reviewed)en
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