  The ability of an Open Source Software (OSS) project to attract, onboard, and
retain any newcomer is vital to its livelihood. Although, evidence suggests an
upsurge in novice developers joining social coding platforms (such as GitHub),
the extent to which their activities result in a OSS contribution is unknown.
Henceforth, we execute the protocols of a registered report to study activities
of a "Newcomer OSS-Candidate", who is a novice developer that is new to that
social coding platform, and has the intention to later onboard an OSS project.
Using GitHub as a case platform, we analyze 171 identified Newcomer
OSS-Candidates to characterize their contribution activities. Results show that
Newcomer OSS-Candidates are likely to target software based repositories (i.e.,
66%), and their first contributions are mainly associated with development
(commits) and maintenance (PRs). Newcomer OSS-Candidates are less likely to
practice social coding, but eventually end up onboarding (i.e., 30%
quantitative, 70% follow-up survey) an OSS project. Furthermore, they cite
finding a way to start as the most challenging barrier to contribute. Our work
reveals insights on how newcomers to social coding platforms are potential
sources of OSS contributions.
