H/FOSS Communities

Overview

Discussion of Project Explorations; Introduction of Project Reviews; Discussion of the structure of H/FOSS communities.

Preparation and Readings

• Four types of open source communities — Matthias Sturmer discusses different ways in which open source communities are structured.

• Teaching OSS: 2.5 Climbing Contributor Mountain (Sections 2.5.1-2.5.4, 2.6. Use the Next button at the bottom of each page.) — An easy read that touches on the different roles people play in FOSS projects.

• Producing OSS: Social and Political Infrastructure — Discusses a variety of issues that affect project community (Read sections on Benevolent Dictators and Consensus-based Democracy).

• Teaching OSS: Chapter 3 — Lay of the Land (Sections 3.1-3.3 Use Next button at the bottom of each page) — Discusses the importance and unique challenges/qualities of FOSS communities.

• Post questions for class discussion to the Moodle forum. Please also feel free to comment on or respond to others’ questions as appropriate.

Supplemental Readings

• Producing OSS: Managing Participants — Touches on both roles and community building in FOSS projects. This is written from the project administration rather than participation side but is still useful in looking at existing projects and their communities.
• 10 ways to start contributing to open source by Chris Haddad.
• 14 Ways to Contribute to Open Source without Being a Programming Genius or a Rock Star by Andy Lester.

Homework

• Reading and Preparation for next class discussion. Details are on the page for the next meeting (Individual)
• H/FOSS Project Review I This is your first project review, which is more detailed than the explorations done previously. (Individual)
• Blog Post I - Write a reflective blog post on either H/FOSS History & Philosophy (last week) or on H/FOSS Communities (today’s topic). See the syllabus for details about the posting. (Individual)