50 Ways to be a FOSSer

Latest revision as of 21:10, 19 April 2019

50 Ways to be a FOSSer

This page lists a variety of possible activities or assignments that involve Free & Open Source Software. Most of these were brainstormed at a workshop by a group of faculty involved in FOSS. Since then, the list has been expanded and organized into topic areas.

To Do

• revise/refine list for conciseness & clarity – add links to supporting info, examples, etc.
• put people to review, comment, clarify, vote for tasks they'd use if well documented

Glossary

The following terms are used below to make the list more concise and avoid duplication.

• Contributor - anyone who contributes to FOSS – code, design, docs, feedback, ideas, etc.
• FOSS - free & open source software. “a FOSS”: a project; “FOSS”: the broader culture.
• Forge - web site containing many FOSS – e.g. Sourceforge
• Lead - anyone who coordinates or directs other contributors
• Planet - blog aggregator for a FOSS or topic

Possible categories / dimensions for tags / taxonomy

• ACM curricular areas & outcomes
• relevant courses
• prereq tools/skills
• time/effort required – for instructor prep, student work, elapsed calendar time
• requires input / effort from FOSS community - how much, what kind
• produces something useful to FOSS project - what, how useful
• unreviewed (doc) vs. reviewed (code) contribution

50 Ways by Category

Notes:

• A FOSS could be specified by instructor, selected from a set of choices, or chosen by student, depending on student experience, time available, etc.
• Documentation tasks could apply to:
  • a FOSS
  • meta sites: http://opensource.com, http://teachingopensource.org,
  • other open content sites: Wikipedia, Instructables, eHow, WikiHow, etc.
• Tasks could be done alone, in pairs, teams, etc.
• Tasks could result in:
  • blog posts, podcasts, vlogs, wiki pages, etc.
  • articles for magazines, newspapers, web sites, etc.
• Results could be:
  • Submitted to instructor for evaluation.
  • Posted or shared for peer review (with other students in course).
  • Presented in class.
  • Discussed in class or online, etc.
• See: http://piratenpad.de/softhum-workshop-template-writing

Introduction

• Read recent article(s) and { answer questions | summarize | critique | present material }.
  • e.g. product reviews, culture of writing software, use within some environment, etc.
  • sites: opensource.com,teachingopensource.org
  • print: Linux Journal, Linux Magazine
• Write an article about a topic related to FOSS and submit to a FOSS news blog/web site.
  • Good blogs/sites for publication?
• Write a { review | tutorial | comparison } of { a | several } FOSS.
  • Good blogs/sites for publication?
• Write an article on “what I wish I knew” - about FOSS; before starting a project or course.
• Add a personal project blog to an appropriate planet (blog aggregator).
• Interview a FOSS user and find out why they use FOSS, benefits/drawbacks, etc.
• Study a FOSS contributor’s activities over time { week | month | semester } to understand the level of engagement and the type of interactions/contributions the person has made.
• Interview a FOSS contributor to find out how they got involved, their role(s), their background, etc.
• Shadow a FOSS contributor over time to see what they do, & summarize.
• Create a lecture that provides a tour of the application domain landscape of FOSS.
  • Show market segment leaders (Apache, MySQL), tools (Eclipse, Notepad++), games (game engine), humanitarian, industry specific (e.g., ERP), etc. - this may be a pre/post-scavenger hunt lecture
  • Video it, Keep it short & modular for remixing.
  • Create a list of wanted topics, get community to contribute.
  • See examples from entrepreneurship education
  • http://www.prendismo.com/collection/ (was Cornell eClips)
  • http://ecorner.stanford.edu/
• FOSS scavenger hunt: Study a FOSS to answer a set of questions (overview about project and product features)
  • Could also look at a forge (# of projects, what application domains, what languages, # added recently)

FOSS History

• Research the history of a FOSS & summarize.
  • When did it start? How many releases? How many users?
  • Reading history on the site, talk to people involved, etc.
• Review an archived discussion of a { chat | thread | forum | list } over a { day | week | month } and { summarize | categorize | reflect on } the content.
  • e.g. developer list, support list,
• Study a completed defect or feature proposal, and create a concise summary, including details, people involved & their roles, steps taken.

Use & Evaluate

• Search forge(s) or the Internet for FOSS that interests you.
• Use & evaluate a FOSS that has been installed.
• Download, install, use, & evaluate FOSS.
  • http://piratenpad.de/softhum-workshop-analysis
• Read review(s) of FOSS, then download a "good" one, based on different criteria
  • e.g. community, features, ease of maintenance
• Evaluate how good a FOSS would be to { use | contribute to} based on:
  • Size, maturity, level of activity, size of community, etc.
  • Features described in documentation or demos.
  • How easy it is to set up for use: e.g., download, install, customize, apply updates.
• Compare and contrast 2+ FOSS to determine which to { use | contribute to }.
  • criteria from instructor, student, or target user
• Install (help others install) one or more FOSS and/or FOSS plugins.
• Install PortableApps on a flash drive, along with several portable FOSS for later use.
  • http://portableapps.com
• Install FOSS operating system on a flash drive.
  • http://www.pendrivelinux.com/
  • http://unetbootin.sourceforge.net/

Communication & Tools

• Choose, investigate, and report on a forge. //what is the motivation or LO?//
• View newest FOSS on a forge, then see how many new FOSS are created in a { day | week }.
• Choose a (FOSS) RSS client, subscribe to RSS feeds for FOSS, read, and summarize.
  • RSS clients: Google Reader, RSSOwl
  • RSS feeds: any planet (feed aggregator), FOSS
• Define IRC, determine why IRC is an appropriate means of communication within a community - what are the benefits, drawbacks?
• Subscribe to an IRC channel, listen to a meeting, write summary of the content of the meeting and any observations about the mode of communication/type of communication.
• Study IRC meetings: lurk; participate; write minutes or summary; plan agenda; run meeting.
  • http://foss2serve.org/index.php/Connect_with_the_Community_(Activity)
• Work remotely (using IRC, email, twitter, whatever) with another student to develop profiles for each other. (a web-page about you and your tech skills and interests).
• Ask, comment on, answer, respond to question (on web forum, mailing list, IRC).
• Study the social norms of communication within a FOSS community. (i.e. how to ask questions, respond, etc.)
• Become familiar with public/private keys. //what is the motivation or LO?//
  • Generate public and private keys for use with SSH.
  • Install public key on remote server for passwordless access via SSH.
  • Exchange public keys with another student.
  • Use exchanged keys to send signs and/or encrypted messages.
  • Sign another student's public key
  • Get your public key signed by another student.
• Sign a Contributors License Agreement (CLA) for a FOSS. //what is the motivation or LO?//
  • see http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Contributor_License_Agreement
• [meta] Learn to interact with the community by using various tools such as blogs, wiki changesets, ticketing systems, etc. // expand to specific tasks with specific tools //
• [meta] Learn a tool, and teach others how to use it.
• [meta] Learn that a text editor is a text editor, regardless of what it is. //how to do this?//
• [meta] Learn how to choose a set of tools to use for a FOSS.

Culture, Intellectual Property

See: http://piratenpad.de/softhum-workshop-template-culture

• Research how a FOSS is organized, summarize findings, & reflect.
  • How many people are employed, who is employed, how they get paid.
  • Business model - how is the project funded, who is in charge, etc.
• Select a FOSS, identify primary contributors (no more than 10), find their educational and work experiences, and summarize.
• Understand why a major company (like IBM for example) contributes to FOSS.
  • What are the market pressures involved from an economic point of view?
• Study software licensing (in general) and then discuss FOSS intellectual property issues.
  • Why is it OK to download & install some software but not other?
  • Why would developers give up their rights?
• Compare & contrast 2+ FOSS licenses (e.g. in a matrix).

Philosophy / Politics

• Study why people choose to use FOSS as opposed to other software.
• Read "Little Brother" (by Cory Doctorow) //what is the motivation or LO?//
• Study the international influence in FOSS projects, both as contributors and consumers.
  • cultural perspectives – freedom from multinationals companies (e.g. China, India)
• Study cultural/policy implications of CC, GPL, etc.
  • Implications for pre-health, pre-law, etc.
• Explore implications of philosophy/culture of FOSS for public policy.
  • Uber database of FOSS public policy decisions. Linked from Mel's blog.

Privacy / Security

• Evaluate security for a FOSS: how many intrusions, severity, etc.
  • Compare with commercial products, industry practices
• Write privacy policy //need more detail//
• Develop security guidelines //need more detail//
• Write about implications of software choice for security. //need more detail//
  • Diaspora (Facebook clone) and problems w.r.t. privacy/security
  • FOSS DBs, etc. (OpenMRS) -- issues, privacy, etc.

Advocacy

• Organize & conduct a { installation festival | tutorial session } for a { FOSS | feature }.
• { Observe | participate in | support | organize } a hackathon.
• Raise money or other resources for an open source project.
• [meta] Promote a project of interest using multiple tools/channels. //other examples?//

Documentation

• Review a page and summarize problems found.
  • for existing pages, or proposed changes/additions by other students
• Find & improve a page that could benefit from editing / rewriting / improvement.
  • Find references (to other pages or resources) and add them (with appropriate links).
• Find a "stub" page and expand it with research and related references.
• Create a new page with appropriate research & related references.
• “Garden” a site or other documentation – prune, restructure, etc.
  • Instructor could clone or create a sandbox area for this.
  • Major restructuring might require advance planning.
• Test documentation (e.g. installation instructions) and summarize problems found.
  • [1]
• Rewrite & simplify installation instructions for typical (non-technical) computer users.
• Write concise and helpful instructions to install and configure FOSS on a specific system.
  • Specify version or date when install instructions become obsolete.
• Create or update a glossary or vocabulary list for a FOSS.
• Translate a page to a different language using { automated tools | expert knowledge }.
• Convert written docs to video docs.
• Convert video docs to written docs.
• Develop UML diagram from an existing project. (argouml)
  • Generate and review JavaDoc.
  • http://www.foss2serve.org/index.php/UML_a_project

Visual Design

• Create a storyboard or paper prototype, evaluate with users, revise, & summarize.
  • Clif has paper prototyping references, workshop slides, etc.
• Create instructional comics.
• Create a font or icon set.
• [meta] Become a design ninja //expand / clarify - how does a student do this?//

Quality & Testing

• In teams, students generate test sets for given code and an understanding of the codes purpose, and test that code.
  • see http://piratenpad.de/softhum-workshop-template-testsets
• Choose a fixed defect or feature, research its history (when & how reported, when & how fixed), and summarize in a 5 min format (in tracker, wiki, blog post, podcast, vlog, etc).
  • see http://piratenpad.de/softhum-workshop-write-feature-description
• Choose an open defect or feature request from { mailing list | tracker | wiki }, verify that it exists, and expand & improve formal report (in tracker or wiki).
  • Create a new defect report from mailing list or personal experience.
  • Find a "bad" report and make it a "good" report.
  • http://foss2serve.org/index.php/Writing_a_bug_report
• Brainstorm list of possible enhancements for project, choose a few to document (see above).
• Evaluate usability of a specified { feature | screen } and summarize results & conclusions (in tracker or wiki).
  • using formal guidelines or rubric
  • using heuristic evaluation http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Heuristic_evaluation
• Role play / evaluate from other (non-student) perspectives.
• Test documentation.
  • Evaluate (and improve) installation instructions.
• Verify (and fix) development environment.
• Develop an { automated test suite | repeatable test script }, contribute code, summarize results.
• Test (perhaps a project that does JUnit testing).
  • Trace the execution of some piece of code.

Specification and Design

• Explore a new feature for an existing project
  • Discuss how it might be implemented
  • Show actual code and implementation
• Identify data structures used in a project.
• Study code & docs, diagram system architecture, evaluate, summarize.
  • using guidelines supplied by instructor

Coding & Style

• Given coding standard & sample code, list the changes needed for code to meet standard.
• Given sample code, infer and document coding standard.
• Analyze existing code to understand what it does and how it works.
• Reformat, document, & refactor existing (others') code to make it more readable & consistent.
• Analyze the sequence of function calls that produces a specified { feature | page | screen }.
  • http://piratenpad.de/softhum-workshop-analysis
• Identify examples of a given { coding construct | data structure | pattern } in a FOSS.
  • could provide teachers with examples to use in other courses
• Given specification & code, provide an itemized list of tasks and describe how each was met.
• Given a problem and 2+ solutions to a problem, compare, summarize, & present.
  • naming conventions, coding style, efficiency, etc...
• Given a problem, find 2+ solutions (to same or similar problem) and summarize the differences between the solutions.
• Determine how well a { FOSS | component } meets its specifications.
• Develop a code walkthrough
  • In teams of 2-3, students walk through working, uncommented code to determine its purpose.
  • Deliverables: A brief summary (1-2 paragraphs) describing the purpose of the code.
  • Could be senior level assignment, where students are asked to understand a complicated segement of code from a larger project. CS1-2: students are given a partial implementation of a class as to determine what a specific method does.
  • http://piratenpad.de/softhum-workshop-template-walkthrough
  • http://foss2serve.org/index.php/Document_code_with_meaningful_comments
• Given a comment, defect, or feature request, study & fix it, and submit as patch.
  • FOSS with plugins may be easier for this:
  • Drupal (e.g. shopping cart), Firefox, GreaseMonkey, Moodle
  • wiki formatting plugins
• Develop UML diagram(s) for a FOSS.
  • FOSS UML tool: http://argouml.tigris.org/
  • PC Clements, & DL Parnas. 1986. “A rational design process: How and why to fake it.” IEEE Transactions on Software Engineering 12 (2): 251-257.
• Find/study examples of well & poorly written code - style wise (layout, variable names)
  • Look at coding standard for an open source project (Java, Python)
  • Reformat code, rename variables, etc. (possibly commit back depending on project)
• Add comments to a piece of code that has no or poor comments.
  • http://foss2serve.org/index.php/Document_code_with_meaningful_comments

Product Packaging and Distribution

• Configure FOSS according to given criteria or specification.
  • What are good examples of configurable FOSS - Drupal, wiki,
  • design & create a custom distribution
  • Share custom distribution with the FOSS community.
• Maintain a build host. //needs more detail//
• Understand and identify installation and IT support needs. //needs more detail//