Open source development

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ARTICLES IN THE BOOK. FREE SOFTWARE CULTURE This article is from: All text is available under the terms of the GNU Free Documentation License: Open source software development is the process by which open source software or similar software whose source is publicly available is developed. There are several different types of tasks that are generally associated with the development of Open source software. This task involves working on the source code of the program - fixing bugs, adding new functionality, refactoring, etc. This task is probably the most prestigious of what falls under the umbrella of open source development. This task involves documenting open source programs or libraries. It either involves creating a full-coverage reference documentation, writing a how-to, writing tips or tutorials, or other types of documentation. It should not be confused with internationalization, in which the not-necessarily localized program is adapted to be able to process text in different mainly non-English human languages. Assuming the program is not already internationalized, then internationalizing it usually requires modifications to the code and so falls under actual programming. This is while translations and localizations can be done without involving much programming. Open source software by its nature is often deployed on a large number of operating systems, and distributions. Packaging involves preparing a working source or binary package for the program, so it can be more easily deployed on such systems. This type of development involves reporting software bugs, or asking for Feature Requests to the developers who then register it somehow, for further resolution. This task involves providing knowledgeable answers to questions raised by the people who are trying to use the open source project. See also the 'How To Ask Questions The Smart Way' document. There may possibly be other types of activities that fall under the umbrella of open source development. One can distinguish several different types of open source projects. First, there is the garden variety of software programs and libraries. They are standalone pieces of code. Some might even be dependent on other open source projects. These projects serve a specified purpose and fill a definite need. Examples of this type of project include the Linux kernel, the Firefox web-browser and OpenOffice. Distributions are another type of open source project. Distributions are collections of software that are published from the same source with a common purpose. The most prominent example of a 'distribution' is an operating system. There are a large number of Linux distributions such as Debian, Fedora Core, Mandriva, Slackware, etc. There are also other distributions, like ActivePerl, the Perl programming language for various operating system, and even the OpenCD and cygwin distributions of open-source programs for Microsoft Windows. Other open source projects, like the BSD derivatives, maintain the source code of an entire operating system, the kernel and all of its core components, in one revision control system; developing the entire system together as a single team. These operating system development projects closely integrate their tools: Finally, there is the book or standalone document project. These items usually do not shipped as part of an open source software package. There are many other examples of this type of open source project. Eric Raymond observed in his famous essay 'The Cathedral and the Bazaar' that announcing the intent for a project is usually inferior to releasing a working project to the public. Participants in OSS development projects fall into two broad categories: The Core or Inner Circle are developers who modify the primary code that constitutes the project. The Peripheral usually consists of users of the software. They report bugs, submit fixes, and suggest changes. Projects often exhibit an early geographical trend, even if there is international interest. For example, most of the core founders of the KDE Desktop Environment were German. Developers and users of an open source project are not all necessarily working on the project in proximity. They require some electronic means of communications. E-mail is one of the most common forms of communication among open source developers and users. Often, electronic mailing lists are used to make sure e-mail messages are delivered to all interested parties at once. This ensures that at least one of the members can reply to it in private or to the whole mailing list. A small project may have only one mailing list, but as it grows it often spawns several, each for a different purpose. Common mailing lists purposes include:. In order to communicate in real time, many projects use an instant messaging method such as IRC although there are many others available. IRC is especially suitable because the project can set up one or more IRC channels for discussions among its participants as well as for users to get help. The Freenode IRC network has been especially popular for hosting channels for open source projects. There has been a lot of activity on other networks, some of which are also dedicated to open-source projects. Sometimes a project will use communication channels on more than one network. Developers communicate using other instant messaging protocols, but IRC seems to be preferred. Web forums have recently become a common way for users to get help with problems they encounter when using an open source product. To a lesser extent, they have been useful as ways for developers to communicate regarding the development of the core code, but most hardcore and experienced developers still tend to prefer e-mails over web forums. Wikis have become common as a communication medium for developers and users. They are used to collaboratively edit documents and keep track of other resources. Since the web was a somewhat late introduction to the open source development scene, and wikis even more so, the concept is still not as common as it could potentially become. Wikis often pose problems as a communication channel, because it is harder to have an electronic dialog using them. They are often dedicated as a resource for having easy-to-modify collaborative documents. In OSS development the participants, who are mostly volunteers, are distributed amongst different geographic regions so there is need for tools to aid participants to collaborate in the development of source code. Concurrent Versions System CVS is a prominent example of a source code collaboration tool being used in OSS projects. CVS helps manage the files and codes of a project when several people are working on the project at the same time. CVS allows several people to work on the same file at the same time. CVS also enables one to easily retrieve a previous version of a file. The Subversion revision control system svn was created to replace CVS. It is quickly gaining ground as an OSS project version control system. Most large-scale projects require a bug tracker usually web or otherwise Internet based to keep track of the status of various issues in the development of the project. A simple text file is not sufficient, because they have many such bugs, and because they wish to facilitate reporting and maintenance of bugs by users and secondary developers. Some popular bug trackers include:. Often Open source developers feel that their code requires a revamp. This can be either because the code was written or maintained without proper Refactoring as is often the case if the code was inherited from a previous developer , or because a proposed enhancement or extension of it cannot be cleanly implemented with the existing codebase. This did not completely eliminate them from the open source world, but has made some people more conscious of their inherent problems and risks. Software testing is an integral part of open source development. While many open source packages were known to be released with some glaring bugs even in some stable releases, most open source software eventually becomes very stable. Traditionally, in most of the open source there was a general lack of awareness for automated tests, in which on writes automated test scripts and programs that run the software and try to find out if it behaves correctly. Recently, however, this awareness has been growing, possibly because of influence from Extreme Programming, and because of some high-profile software packages that incorporated such test suites. Most open source software is either command line or alternatively APIs and as such is very easy to test automatically. Articles to be merged since November Free software culture and documents. Iscritta al Registro Imprese di MILANO - C. VIDEO DIDATTICI SOTTOTITOLATI - Inglese per bimbi VIDEO DIDATTICI SOTTOTITOLATI - Inglese con Misterduncan VIDEO DIDATTICI SOTTOTITOLATI - Inglese americano VIDEO DIDATTICI SOTTOTITOLATI - Inglese britannico VIDEO DIDATTICI SOTTOTITOLATI - Inglese con Julian LE CONFERENZE SOTTOTITOLATE DI TED - I celebri video di Ted AREA SHOP - RIVISTA ENGLISH4LIFE AREA SHOP - CORSO 20 ORE DI INGLESE AREA SHOP - CORSO 20 ORE DI RUSSO AREA SHOP - CORSO 20 ORE DI TEDESCO AREA SHOP - CORSO 20 ORE DI SPAGNOLO AREA SHOP - CORSO 20 ORE DI FRANCESE. IN Fossap Frameworx License Free content Free Culture movement Freedesktop. Department of Defense Vores Ol W3C Software Notice and License Webgpl What the Hack Wizards of OS WTFPL X. Open source software development From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia. Open-source software Participants in OSS development projects. Le risorse linguistiche gratuite presentate in questo sito si possono utilizzare esclusivamente per uso personale e non commerciale con tassativa esclusione di ogni condivisione comunque effettuata. Tutti i diritti sono riservati. Non siamo quindi responsabili del contenuto di questi annunci e delle eventuali affermazioni o promesse che in essi vengono fatte! Org Foundation Yet Another Perl Conference Yogurt. Discuss Open source software development is the process by which open source software or similar software whose source is publicly available is developed. Writing Code This task involves working on the source code of the program - fixing bugs, adding new functionality, refactoring, etc. Documentation This task involves documenting open source programs or libraries. Packaging Open source software by its nature is often deployed on a large number of operating systems, and distributions. Bug reports and feature requests This type of development involves reporting software bugs, or asking for Feature Requests to the developers who then register it somehow, for further resolution. Answering questions This task involves providing knowledgeable answers to questions raised by the people who are trying to use the open source project. Other types There may possibly be other types of activities that fall under the umbrella of open source development. Types of open source projects One can distinguish several different types of open source projects. Starting an open source project There are several ways in which work on an open source project can start: An individual who senses the need for a project announces the intent to develop the project in public. The individual may receive offers of help from others. The group may then proceed to work on the code. A developer working on a limited but working codebase, releases it to the public as the first version of an open-source program. The developer continues to work on improving it, and possibly is joined by other developers. The source code of a mature project is released to the public, after being developed as proprietary software or inhouse software. A well-established open-source project can be forked by an interested outside party. Several developers can then start a new project, whose source code then diverges from the original. Participants in OSS development projects Main article: Open-source software Participants in OSS development projects Participants in OSS development projects fall into two broad categories: The participants can be divided into the following: Project leaders who have the overall responsibility Core. Most of them might have been involved in coding the first release of the software. They control the overall direction of individual projects. Senior members with broader overall authority Peripheral developers producing and submitting code fixes Occasional contributors Maintainers who work on different aspects of the project Everyday users Periphery who perform testing, identify bugs, deliver bug reports, etc. Posters Periphery who participate frequently in newsgroups and discussions, but do not do any coding. Tools used for open source development Communication channels Developers and users of an open source project are not all necessarily working on the project in proximity. E-mail E-mail is one of the most common forms of communication among open source developers and users. Common mailing lists purposes include: Announcements - a small-volume mailing lists dedicated for project announcements, and usually with a restricted or moderated who-can-post policy. Commits - a mailing list in which all the check-ins to the revision control system are sent for verification by the peer developers. Development - a mailing list dedicated to discussing the development of the code itself, as opposed to making use of the product. User - a mailing list dedicated to helping users of the product with their problems. Instant messaging In order to communicate in real time, many projects use an instant messaging method such as IRC although there are many others available. Web forums Web forums have recently become a common way for users to get help with problems they encounter when using an open source product. Wikis Wikis have become common as a communication medium for developers and users. Software engineering tools Version control systems Copied from Open source software Main article: Revision control In OSS development the participants, who are mostly volunteers, are distributed amongst different geographic regions so there is need for tools to aid participants to collaborate in the development of source code. There are many other version control systems. Bug trackers and task lists Most large-scale projects require a bug tracker usually web or otherwise Internet based to keep track of the status of various issues in the development of the project. Some popular bug trackers include: Bugzilla - a sophisticated bug tracker from the Mozilla house. Trac - integrating a bug tracker with a wiki, and an interface to the Subversion version control system. Request tracker - written in Perl. Given as a default to CPAN modules - see rt. GNATS - The GNU Bugtracking system. SourceForge and its forks provide a bug tracker as part of its services. As a result many projects hosted at SourceForge. Build tools Other tools Web sites Download areas Common development methodologies Refactoring, Rewrites and Other Revamps Often Open source developers feel that their code requires a revamp. There are several kinds of revamps: Such refactoring can be done in small amounts so-called 'continuous refactoring' to justify a certain change, or one can decide on large amounts of refactoring to an existing code that last for several days or weeks. Such partial rewrites have been common in the Linux kernel development, where several subsystems were rewritten or re-implemented from scratch, while keeping the rest of the code intact. Complete Rewrites involve starting the project from scratch, while possibly still making use of some old code. A good example of a complete rewrite was the Subversion version control system, whose developers started from scratch: Another good example of such a rewrite was the Apache web server, which was almost completely re-written between version 1. Automated tests Software testing is an integral part of open source development. Publicizing a project Software directories and release logs Freshmeat, directory. Mailing lists External links Software Release Practice HOWTO by Eric Raymond http:

Open source development

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