Building an engaged community workshop reading list
by Elena Blanco on 25 November 2009
Introduction
For the Open Development: Building an Engaged Community Workshop, December 2009
OSS Watch produces a variety of material related to open source software all of which is available from the OSS Watch website. We have gathered here a taster selection of our material exploring the idea of community with the focus on building an open source community. Note: each of the suggested articles contain plenty of links for further reading so you can explore even further by following the links at the end of each briefing note.
- Avoiding abandon-ware: getting to grips with the open development method
- Open source is more than a style of licence. The Open Source Initiative’s homepage tells us that “Open source is a development method for software that harnesses the power of distributed peer review and transparency of process.” Paul Anderson of Intelligent Content explores this idea by examining the open development method.
- Meritocrats, cluebats and the open development method: an interview with Justin Erenkrantz
- OSS Watch managed to secure an interview with Justin Erenkrantz, President of The Apache Software Foundation, whilst he was in the UK attending an OSS Watch expert workshop. Take a look to find out Justin’s thoughts and pragmatic views on open development and its relationship to open source.
- How to build an open source community
- Having an open source licence is not enough to bring users and developers to your project. You need an active and supportive community too. Matthew Mascord looks at what makes a successful open source community.
- Sustainable open source
- Sustainability has never been a more important factor in open source projects and community is key. Ross Gardler examines some of the models by which an open source project can become sustainable.
- EduApps - a case study in sustainability
- EduApps is a collection of open source and freeware Windows programs that can be run directly from a USB memory stick. OSS Watch engaged in a detailed consultation with EduApps as part of our strategic project work and as a result we have a clear understanding of their attitude to sustainability and open development. Steve Lee tells the story.
- A guide to participating in an open source software community
- Participating in an open source software development community could be intimidating. But it need not be. Stuart Yeates considers some steps you can take to get the most out of your participation.