一句话：通过 1,039 个 GitHub 仓库的实证比较，揭示 OSS4SG 与传统 OSS 在社区黏性、参与节奏和贡献模式上的差异。
论文关注开源向善（OSS4SG）项目虽以社会使命驱动，但其社区动态和贡献者模式是否不同于传统开源软件尚不清楚。作者对 1,039 个 GitHub 仓库（422 个 OSS4SG、617 个传统 OSS）开展大规模实证研究，比较社区结构、贡献者参与和编码实践。结果显示：OSS4SG 社区更稳定、更具黏性（63.4%），而传统 OSS 更具“磁性”（75.4%），贡献者流动率高；OSS4SG 全年参与较一致，传统 OSS 呈季节性波动；OSS4SG 的代码质量和 issue 解决都更依赖核心贡献者，传统 OSS 则由普通贡献者解决 issue、核心贡献者聚焦代码质量。
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.
@inproceedings{paperbot11892,
title = {An empirical Analysis of Community and Coding Patterns in OSS4SG vs. Conventional OSS},
author = {Mohamed Ouf and Shayan Noei and Zeph Van Iterson and Mariam Guizani and Ying Zou},
booktitle = {ICSE},
year = {2026},
doi = {10.1145/3744916.3787782}
}