An Empirical Analysis of Community and Coding Patterns in OSS4SG vs. Conventional OSS

TL;DR

This study compares community and coding patterns between OSS4SG projects focused on social good and conventional OSS, revealing differences in community stability, contributor engagement, and development practices.

Contribution

It provides the first large-scale empirical analysis contrasting OSS4SG and conventional OSS projects, highlighting unique community dynamics and contributor roles.

Findings

OSS4SG communities are more stable and 'sticky' (63.4%)

Conventional OSS attracts more 'magnetic' contributors (75.4%)

OSS4SG shows consistent year-round engagement

Abstract

Open Source Software for Social Good (OSS4SG) projects aim to address critical societal challenges, such as healthcare access and community safety. Understanding the community dynamics and contributor patterns in these projects is essential for ensuring their sustainability and long-term impact. However, while extensive research has focused on conventional Open Source Software (OSS), little is known about how the mission-driven nature of OSS4SG influences its development practices. To address this gap, we conduct a large-scale empirical study of 1,039 GitHub repositories, comprising 422 OSS4SG and 617 conventional OSS projects, to compare community structure, contributor engagement, and coding practices. Our findings reveal that OSS4SG projects foster significantly more stable and "sticky" (63.4%) communities, whereas conventional OSS projects are more "magnetic" (75.4%), attracting a high turnover of contributors. OSS4SG projects also demonstrate consistent engagement throughout the year, while conventional OSS communities exhibit seasonal fluctuations. Additionally, OSS4SG projects rely heavily on core contributors for both code quality and issue resolution, while conventional OSS projects leverage casual contributors for issue resolution, with core contributors focusing primarily on code quality.