Open Source/Open development
Present: Steve Brewer (scribe), Steve Lee
(facilitator), Damian Brasher, Mario
Antonioletti, Andrew Price, Philip Wieder,
Mike Jackson, Tobias Schiebeck, Simon
Mueller, Gagarine Yaikhom
web: www.omii.ac.uk
email: info@omii.ac.uk
Open Source/Open Development
• Discussion about what participants understand by
OS/OD and whether they are following whether
practice and why…
o
o
OD helps with sustainability
Funders demand it (as default)
• Algorithms can be encapsulated
• Exceptions can be negotiated
o
o
o
Misunderstandings abound re. both OS & OD
Licence (OS) v. process (OD) “community over code”
Project memory is open - OD
2
web: www.omii.ac.uk
email: info@omii.ac.uk
Open Source/Open Development reqs.
• Key elements/tools (as a minimum):
o
o
o
o
Version control
Bug tracking
Web site
Mailing list/forum/archive (memory)
• Governance model
o
o
o
o
Hierarchical review model – what gets through?
QA process
Apache council – voting exists
Catherdral and the Bazaar – theoretical extremes
3
web: www.omii.ac.uk
email: info@omii.ac.uk
What doesn’t work or at least some issues
• Community source – starts closed then
becomes open (snap shots released periodically)
• OD from the start necessary to capture history
• Universities don’t like releasing IP, trust
required to get remuneration
• This affects licence decision – liberal v. copy left
o
o
Within a project do components have to follow same
licence? No components and extensions can differ
Contamination of source fears – checks reqd. (IBM)
4
web: www.omii.ac.uk
email: info@omii.ac.uk
Why does OSS Watch exist?
• Help developers consider OS & OD approach
• JISC requires OS approach
• OSS provides support for UK research
community
• Champion OS and latterly OD
• Other examples (maintain control, governance):
o
o
o
o
PAG
DIASER
Google Summer of code
OGSA-DAI
5
web: www.omii.ac.uk
email: info@omii.ac.uk
Conclusions
• Awareness of the wealth of support that OSS watch
can offer
• Potential for closer cooperation between OMII-UK
and OSS watch
• Currently a disparity of development models within
OMII-UK – guidelines would be useful; perhaps
extension to development guidelines
6
web: www.omii.ac.uk
email: info@omii.ac.uk
Future work
• Review OMII-UK open development model
• Feed into other sessions/topics
• OMII-UK OS/OD guidelines required (develop in
conjunction with OSS watch)
7
web: www.omii.ac.uk
email: info@omii.ac.uk