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Emerging Results, Vision & Reflection Track Paper

DOI: 10.4230/LIPIcs.ESEM.2026.65

Towards Competence-Based Management for Open Source Software Projects

Authors: Sabahat Younas, Márcia Moraes, and Fabio Santos

Published in: LIPIcs, Volume 394, 20th International Symposium on Empirical Software Engineering and Measurement (ESEM 2026)

Abstract

Contributors to Open Source Software (OSS) projects are vital to maintaining the health of both communities and projects. However, the number of projects experiencing core contributors' disengagement has increased to the point that it risks the projects' survival. Finding new contributors to replace the workforce is challenging and time-intensive due to several factors, including a lack of precise knowledge about potential candidates' competences, which may need to be confirmed through interviews and exams. Previous studies provided indications of the contributor’s competences, although they lack depth in understanding competence levels, which can result in poor knowledge about the contributor’s capabilities. To address this gap, we assess contributors' competence by collecting code metrics related to source code from contributions. We also propose a competence model able to predict the competence level required to solve tasks. By properly assessing contributors' competences, we can identify and train candidates to replace core contributors. Our replication package, including code, data, and documentation, is available at https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.21605122

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Sabahat Younas, Márcia Moraes, and Fabio Santos. Towards Competence-Based Management for Open Source Software Projects. In 20th International Symposium on Empirical Software Engineering and Measurement (ESEM 2026). Leibniz International Proceedings in Informatics (LIPIcs), Volume 394, pp. 65:1-65:15, Schloss Dagstuhl – Leibniz-Zentrum für Informatik (2026)

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@InProceedings{younas_et_al:LIPIcs.ESEM.2026.65,
  author =	{Younas, Sabahat and Moraes, M\'{a}rcia and Santos, Fabio},
  title =	{{Towards Competence-Based Management for Open Source Software Projects}},
  booktitle =	{20th International Symposium on Empirical Software Engineering and Measurement (ESEM 2026)},
  pages =	{65:1--65:15},
  series =	{Leibniz International Proceedings in Informatics (LIPIcs)},
  ISBN =	{978-3-95977-450-5},
  ISSN =	{1868-8969},
  year =	{2026},
  volume =	{394},
  editor =	{Feldt, Robert and Paasivaara, Maria and Mendez, Daniel and Wagner, Stefan and Bar\'{o}n, Marvin Mu\~{n}oz},
  publisher =	{Schloss Dagstuhl -- Leibniz-Zentrum f{\"u}r Informatik},
  address =	{Dagstuhl, Germany},
  URL =		{https://drops.dagstuhl.de/entities/document/10.4230/LIPIcs.ESEM.2026.65},
  URN =		{urn:nbn:de:0030-drops-280339},
  doi =		{10.4230/LIPIcs.ESEM.2026.65},
  annote =	{Keywords: Contributor competence, MSR, project sustainability, AST, OSS, disengagement mitigation}
}

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Towards Competence-Based Management for Open Source Software Projects

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