<div class="xblock xblock-public_view xblock-public_view-vertical" data-course-id="course-v1:MOOC-FLOSS+101+2021_1" data-init="VerticalStudentView" data-runtime-class="LmsRuntime" data-runtime-version="1" data-block-type="vertical" data-usage-id="block-v1:MOOC-FLOSS+101+2021_1+type@vertical+block@chap-05-seq-03-ver-01" data-request-token="4c5b87b2902f11ee8c631237928d7ffd" data-graded="False" data-has-score="False">
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<div class="edit-link-wrapper"><div class="edit-link"><p style="text-align: right;"><a href="https://gitlab.com/-/ide/project/mooc-floss/mooc-floss/edit/master/-/course/html/chap-05-seq-03-ver-01-html-01.html" target="_blank"><i class="fa fa-pencil mr-1"></i> Edit on Gitlab</a></p></div><div class="edit-link-original-content"><p>Retention and attraction of contributors is an important matter for free software projects. Inevitably, most contributors will eventually move away to other interests, and if a project is to exist in the long term, a diverse and growing community is necessary.</p>
<p>Contributors always end up joining for a limited amount of time - whether it's for a day, a month, or 10 years, the important is to be able to recognise the end, and to quit gracefully. Just like there is no obligation to contribute, there is no shame in leaving -- the important bit is to acknowledge it, to let other people know what to expect, and give space for others as needed. To basically be able to say, "Okay, I'm done with the project," or, "I don't have time for it anymore. Maybe I'll come back to it later", and let others know about it.</p>
<h4>Burn-out</h4>
<p>Contributing voluntarily is a thing that can take lots of time, and as for any volunteering, managing it along with other parts of one's life can be challenging.</p>
<p>Many contributors struggle with time management -- some stay past the time where they stopped finding the project or the work interesting, and keep trying to contribute while in a "burned out" state. This is not only bad for the contributor themselves, who put themselves through unnecessary drudgery, and burn their chances of finding pleasure in contributing to the project again in the future. It's also very detrimental to the other members of the project, who have to deal with a disgruntled member -- and new contributors can be especially prone to it</p>
<h4>References:</h4>
<ul>
<li><a href="https://dl.acm.org/doi/10.1109/ICSE.2019.00100">Why Do Episodic Volunteers Stay in FLOSS Communities?</a>, by Fitzgerald
<ul>
<li><em>"Some factors which affect retention cannot be controlled: the popularity of the project, and how early in the life-cycle a developer joins [8], [9]. However, there are also measures that communities can take to encourage retention. For example, modular code and early social interactions with peers are both associated with retention [8], [10]"</em></li>
</ul>
</li>
<li><a>An empirical verification of a-priori learning models on mailing archives in the context of online learning activities of participants in free\libre open source software (FLOSS) communities</a>
<ul>
<li><a href="https://www.researchgate.net/profile/Patrick-Mukala/publication/313254065/figure/fig1/AS:961423358304278@1606232599177/Role-transition-in-FLOSS-communities-From-Glott-et-al-2011_W640.jpg">Burn outs, role transition in floss communities</a></li>
<li><a href="https://www.researchgate.net/profile/Patrick-Mukala/publication/313254065/figure/fig3/AS:961423358304279@1606232599420/Workflow-net-for-novice-during-the-initiation-phase_W640.jpg">Workflow net for novice during initiation phase</a></li>
</ul>
</li>
</ul>
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