considering open source? is developing an open source project right for you?
TRANSCRIPT
Considering Open Source?Is developing an open source project right for you?
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Brief History of Open Source
• 1950's and 1960's: Software is distributed with source code and without restrictions in forums like the IBM SHARE or the DEC DECUS user groups, or the ``Algorithms'' section of the ``Communications of the ACM'' journal.
• 1972: Source code is freely distributed in academic circles. Example: MIT, circa 1972, HACKMEM (PDP-6/10 assembly language).
• 1984: GNU Project begins. Developers begin creating a wide range of Unix-like tools, including for instance an editor (Emacs) and a compiler (GCC).
• 1985: MIT based X Consortium distributes the X Window System as free software covered by one of the less restrictive open source licences.
• 1989: Cygnus, the first commercial company devoted to provide commercial support for GNU software and open source software in general, is funded.
• 1991 Oct: Linus Torvalds publicly releases the source code for his Unix-like kernel, which is named Linux.
• 1998 Jan: Netscape declares its intent to release the source code for its Navigator browser
• 1998 Aug: Sourceforge launches
• 1998 Dec: VASoftware IPO
Open Source Is Not New
• We have been trading code since the first computers
• There were code catalogs you could order from
• Some magazines had source code with barcodes
• USENET was a wealth of source code
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Advantages of OSS
• More people contributing code – More heads are better than one– Allows people to do what they are best at
• Development resources you couldn’t afford to pay– Some projects get tons of developers
• Faster development times – More coders = faster development
• Better peer code review – Always good to have multiple people looking at code
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Disadvantages of OSS
• Code control – Its hard to give up control– Can’t guarantee coder’s skills
• Project organization – Managing a large project can take a lot of time
• Task delegation – Some people only like to work on the “fun projects”
• Project guidance– In-fighting of developers can lead to conflicts
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Potholes in the roadmap
• Managing user expectations– Many users have unreasonable demands
• Community building – A large open source project is only as good as the
community of users and developers– Building a usable website is a difficult project
• Providing support– Forum postings– IRC channels– Paid Support
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Where can it go?
• Commercial Angles– mySQL– SugarCRM– Red Hat– Asterisk– trixbox– PHP
• Non-Commercial– Apache– CentOS– Python
• As a project matures, a commercial angle is usually appropriate in order to support the user base8
Is Open Source Right For You?
• It really depends on your needs and goals• There are definitely pros and cons of opening your
project or being a developer on an existing project• If you are looking at helping with a project
– How long has it been around– Who is controlling it– How well does everyone communicate
• Remember, you are making a big commitment, so know who you are getting involved with
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Thank You
• Thank you for listening and I hope you enjoyed learning a little more about open source development
Kerry GarrisonSr. Product Manager, trixbox
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