vt-ntug | 2002-10-24 jim hall building the bazaar open source software development

VT-NTUG | 2002-10-24

Jim HallJim Hall

Building the BazaarBuilding the Bazaar

Open Source Software Open Source Software

DevelopmentDevelopment

VT-NTUG | 2002-10-24

Who am I?Who am I?

• The FreeDOS Project

• GNU Robots

VT-NTUG | 2002-10-24

Who am I?Who am I?

• GNU Emacs (Apollo)

• Freemacs (contributor)

• DOS-UNIX utilities

VT-NTUG | 2002-10-24

Who am I?Who am I?

• University of Minnesota

• Central Computing

• Advanced Labs

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The CathedralThe Cathedral

and the Bazaarand the Bazaar

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The ModelThe Model

• Building the Cathedral– Carefully crafted– Individual wizards– Small bands of mages– Splendid isolation– No version before its time

VT-NTUG | 2002-10-24

The ModelThe Model

• Building the Bazaar– Different agendas– Results in coherent system– Succession of small miracles– Over time

VT-NTUG | 2002-10-24

Open Source SoftwareOpen Source Software

VT-NTUG | 2002-10-24

Open SourceOpen Source

• Open Source ≠ Free Software

• Free Software = Open Source

• Methodology v. theology

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FreeSoftware

OpenSource

VT-NTUG | 2002-10-24

Open SourceOpen Source

• Open Source = Source code

• Free Software = Freedom

• “Free as in speech, not as in beer”

VT-NTUG | 2002-10-24

Open SourceOpen Source

• What makes a good Open Source project?

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ProjectsProjects

• Start by finding a problem that interests you– First alone– Show promise– Others may follow

VT-NTUG | 2002-10-24

ProjectsProjects

• Users should be co-developers– Rapid code improvement– Debugging

– “With enough eyes, all bugs are shallow”– “Mindshare”

VT-NTUG | 2002-10-24

ProjectsProjects

• Release early, release often– Not every release will be stable

VT-NTUG | 2002-10-24

ProjectsProjects

• Project coordinator / maintainer– Listens to the users– Many heads are better than one

VT-NTUG | 2002-10-24

ProjectsProjects

• Organization

• Make it easy to find everything– Developers– Designers / Architects– Web gurus– Documentation

VT-NTUG | 2002-10-24

ProjectsProjects

• Documentation!– Many projects create separate group

– Linux Documentation Project– FreeDOS Documentation Project

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ProjectsProjects

• Bug tracking– Bugzilla <www.mozilla.org/bugs>– Make it easy to report bugs– Make it easy to find bugs

VT-NTUG | 2002-10-24

ProjectsProjects

• Bug tracking– Bugzilla <www.mozilla.org/bugs>– Make it easy to report bugs– Make it easy to find bugs

VT-NTUG | 2002-10-24

ProjectsProjects

• Source code– CVS <www.gnu.org/software/cvs>

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ProjectsProjects

• Respond to submissions– Don't : “Thanks, but I was going to add

that myself, anyway”

VT-NTUG | 2002-10-24

ProjectsProjects

• “Open Source is not a magic bullet”(jwz)

VT-NTUG | 2002-10-24

LicenseLicense

• What makes a good license?

• Choosing a license that is right for you

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LicenseLicense

• Jim's rules for Free Software

1.View

2.Modify

3.Share

4.Re-use

VT-NTUG | 2002-10-24

LicenseLicense

• Free Software Examples– GNU GPL– GNU LGPL– InfoZip

VT-NTUG | 2002-10-24

LicenseLicense

• Jim's rules for Open Source

1.View

2.Modify

3.Share

4.Re-use

VT-NTUG | 2002-10-24

LicenseLicense

• Open Source examples– NPL– OpenDOS

VT-NTUG | 2002-10-24

Questions?Questions?