Open Source Software

Learning Outcomes

Use and develop open source software appropriately

You can choose a suitable open source license for your projects.
You can create software projects that satisfy the three prime directives and thus can support an open source community.
You can interact with the open source community via appropriate questions and forums.

Create high quality technical essays

You demonstrate the ability to write professional-quality technical essays.

Readings

Guided tour of the open source software module

Why, what, how, and when you will learn about open source software.

Screencast 5 min

History of open source, licenses, prime directives, how to participate effectively

Screencast 14 min

Understanding Open Source Licensing

Short summary of copyright, copyleft, and the motivation for open source licenses.

Choose a (open source) license

Simple overview of several open sources licenses and their implications.

How to ask questions the smart way

The classic guide to how to participate in the open source community effectively

The three prime directives for open source development

Three simple rules for assessing the open source quality of your project.

The Cathedral and the Bazaar

“I anatomize a successful open-source project, fetchmail, that was run as a deliberate test of some surprising theories about software engineering suggested by the history of Linux.”

Optional

Research Update: Impact of the Ask Question Wizard

What happens when StackOverflow automates the process of asking Smart Questions