TY - Generic T1 - Group Maintenance Behaviours of Core and Peripheral Members of Free/Libre Open Source Software Teams T2 - Proceedings of The Fifth International Conference on Open Source Systems (OSS) Y1 - 2009 A1 - Scialdone, Michael J. A1 - Heckman, Robert A1 - Kevin Crowston ED - Boldyreff, Cornelia ED - Kevin Crowston ED - Lundell, Björn ED - Wasserman, Tony KW - FLOSS KW - Group Maintenance AB - Group Maintenance is pro-social, discretionary, and relation-building behavior that occurs between members of groups in order to maintain reciprocal trust and cooperation. This paper considers how Free/libre Open Source Software (FLOSS) teams demonstrate such behaviors within the context of e-mail, as this is the primary medium through which such teams communicate. We compare group maintenance behaviors between both core and peripheral members of these groups, as well as behaviors between a group that remains producing software today and one which has since dissolved. Our findings indicate that negative politeness tactics (those which show respect for the autonomy of others) may be the most instrumental group maintenance behaviors that contribute to a FLOSS group‘s ability to survive and continue software production. JF - Proceedings of The Fifth International Conference on Open Source Systems (OSS) CY - Skövde, Sweden, 3-6 June ER -