Do I Belong? Modeling Sense of Virtual Community Among Linux Kernel Contributors

TL;DR

This paper develops and tests a model linking Linux Kernel contributors' motives to their sense of virtual community, revealing intrinsic motivations enhance community feeling while certain factors diminish it, informing retention strategies.

Contribution

It introduces a theoretical model connecting OSS developer motives with sense of community and empirically tests it using Linux Kernel data.

Findings

Intrinsic social and hedonic motives increase sense of community.

Living in authoritative countries reduces sense of community.

Being paid to contribute can decrease sense of community.

Abstract

The sense of belonging to a community is a basic human need that impacts an individuals behavior, long-term engagement, and job satisfaction, as revealed by research in disciplines such as psychology, healthcare, and education. Despite much research on how to retain developers in Open Source Software projects and other virtual, peer-production communities, there is a paucity of research investigating what might contribute to a sense of belonging in these communities. To that end, we develop a theoretical model that seeks to understand the link between OSS developer motives and a Sense of Virtual Community. We test the model with a dataset collected in the Linux Kernel developer community, using structural equation modeling techniques. Our results for this case study show that intrinsic motivations - social or hedonic motives - are positively associated with a sense of virtual community, but living in an authoritative country and being paid to contribute can reduce the sense of virtual community. Based on these results, we offer suggestions for open source projects to foster a sense of virtual community, with a view to retaining contributors and improving projects sustainability.