This document summarizes a study on why newcomers abandon open source software projects. The study examined mailing lists and issue trackers for the Hadoop project over 60 months to analyze responses to 67 newcomers. It found that the absence of responses to questions correlated with higher abandonment rates. Newcomers who received polite, on-topic answers were more likely to remain involved with the project. The type of author of the response also influenced retention, with existing project members' responses leading to better outcomes. Interviews with 11 newcomers confirmed that a lack of guidance made it difficult for them to continue contributing. The conclusions were that initial interactions strongly affect a newcomer's decision to stay involved and that "social skills" are important for