Glue Work Makes the Community Work: Sustaining OSS Through Invisible Labor
333 | Sat 02 Aug 3 p.m.–3:45 p.m.
Presented by
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Zixuan Steve Feng
https://zixuanfeng.github.io/zixuanfeng_page/
My name is Zixuan (Steve) Feng, and I am a Ph.D. candidate in Computer Science at Oregon State University, advised by Dr. Anita Sarma. My research focuses on software engineering. I collect data from OSS and analyze it using mixed research methods (e.g., statistical analysis, grounded theory, LLMs) to develop or validate theories about software engineering processes and outcomes, aiming to answer questions such as: How can we empower collaborative OSS teams and enhance sustainability?
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Anita Sarma
@asarma
https://web.engr.oregonstate.edu/~sarmaa/
Dr. Anita Sarma is a professor and Associate Head of Research in the School of Electrical Engineering and Computer Science. She received her Ph.D. in Computer Science from the University of California, Irvine and was a postdoctoral fellow at Carnegie Mellon University. Her research focuses on human factors in software development and how to design inclusive technology to help software developers. Her passion is in fostering DEI in Open Source. Her work crosscuts areas of SE, AI for SE, HCI, open source, and CSCW. She has co-authored more than 100 conference and journal articles, and has received numerous awards. She received the OSU Breaking Barriers Research award (2021) for her work in removing gender biases from software. She is a co-director of the GenderMag project. She is a recipient of the NSF CAREER award (2013) and Google Inclusion Research Award (2022).
Zixuan Steve Feng
https://zixuanfeng.github.io/zixuanfeng_page/
Anita Sarma
@asarma
https://web.engr.oregonstate.edu/~sarmaa/
Abstract
The success of any OSS team project, be it OSS or proprietary, depends on glue work to bind the project and its people together. Glue work, such as writing maintenance code, updating documentation, and responding to user queries, is crucial but is often invisible, unglamorous, and underappreciated. There is no guidance on how to characterize glue work in OSS and understand its influence on contributor experiences. OSS communities remain uncertain about what to contribute, what to acknowledge, how to gauge the impact of glue work, and why these efforts deserve equitable appreciation.
Over the past year, our cross-disciplinary team from Google, Microsoft, CNCF, and Oregon State University engaged 300+ OSS practitioners via focus group discussions, interviews, and surveys. We systematically investigated glue work in OSS, examining what it is, the comprehensive forms it takes, where it occurs, how contributors can get involved, how it can be recognized and acknowledged, and its critical impact on contributor experiences and the long-term sustainability of OSS communities.
We are here to provide actionable strategies through practical taxonomies that help OSS communities categorize, trace, and acknowledge these often invisible efforts, as well as to raise awareness of glue work and lower the barriers for more people to contribute to OSS. We aim to actively shift the Open Source narrative to recognize and value these contributions, fostering a more inclusive and holistic view of community participation. We are initiating a dedicated Glue Work OSS community to encourage individuals at all levels of coding experience to step forward, contribute, and acknowledge the myriad ways in which everyone can make a significant impact. Learn more https://gluework.netlify.app/.
The success of any OSS team project, be it OSS or proprietary, depends on glue work to bind the project and its people together. Glue work, such as writing maintenance code, updating documentation, and responding to user queries, is crucial but is often invisible, unglamorous, and underappreciated. There is no guidance on how to characterize glue work in OSS and understand its influence on contributor experiences. OSS communities remain uncertain about what to contribute, what to acknowledge, how to gauge the impact of glue work, and why these efforts deserve equitable appreciation. Over the past year, our cross-disciplinary team from Google, Microsoft, CNCF, and Oregon State University engaged 300+ OSS practitioners via focus group discussions, interviews, and surveys. We systematically investigated glue work in OSS, examining what it is, the comprehensive forms it takes, where it occurs, how contributors can get involved, how it can be recognized and acknowledged, and its critical impact on contributor experiences and the long-term sustainability of OSS communities. We are here to provide actionable strategies through practical taxonomies that help OSS communities categorize, trace, and acknowledge these often invisible efforts, as well as to raise awareness of glue work and lower the barriers for more people to contribute to OSS. We aim to actively shift the Open Source narrative to recognize and value these contributions, fostering a more inclusive and holistic view of community participation. We are initiating a dedicated Glue Work OSS community to encourage individuals at all levels of coding experience to step forward, contribute, and acknowledge the myriad ways in which everyone can make a significant impact. Learn more https://gluework.netlify.app/.