[TOS] Peer-Reviewed Open Source Journal

Joel Sherrill joel.sherrill at gmail.com
Wed Mar 11 18:01:11 UTC 2009


On Wed, Mar 11, 2009 at 12:46 PM, Carlos Jensen
<cjensen at eecs.oregonstate.edu> wrote:
> Hi Joel,
>
> I this case I was talking about code visualization tools. Tools aimed at
> helping someone make sense of a projects history, membership, and focus
> basically.

Ahh.. I should have thought of the grokking the code and project history.

I was thinking in terms of people issues -- shyness, intimidation -- not
technical ones.

> Disclaimer: I have not i any way been involved in developing any of these
> tools, I just study their use.
>
> There are a number of tools like SA4J which will help someone studying the
> code visually examine and quickly make sense of dependencies in the code.

I remember from the HFOSS talk that a lot of these tools were Java focused.
Unfortunately, different languages will likely have to have their own
alternative
identified.

> Other tools like Auger will visualize an svn repository's commit logs to
> help you make sense of how the code has evolved, identify patches of code
> which are evolving rapidly, or which have not been looked at lately, and who
> has ownership of these bits of code (as well as all sorts of nifty insights
> into the history and evolution of a project).

This can be useful.

> This is information you can get with a web-browser, by lurking on the email
> and irc lists etc. To someone with a lot of OSS experience, studies show
> that these tools are of little value. The reason I think they are
> interesting is because I think A) they can cut down on the learning
> period/difficulty, and B) they make it less intimidating for someone who has
> never looked at a large code-set, or a project with a very long history (ie
> my students).

This makes sense.  Technical startup not people issues.

> While not everyone is cut out to be an OSS contributor, the process of
> joining an OSS project is currently perceived as too daunting or
> intimidating to many potentially qualified people. If we want OSS to keep
> growing as a movement, or at least to give mores students experiences with
> OSS, we need to look at ways to make the first experience a less daunting
> one.

I can certainly agree.  Even for someone experienced, I still have to
figure out a new project's code and make sure my first questions are
not so stupid I discredit myself.   I can only imagine how I would have
felt as an undergraduate in the same situation. Scary.

Thanks.

--joel

> C
>
>
> Joel Sherrill wrote:
>>
>> On Wed, Mar 11, 2009 at 10:56 AM, Carlos Jensen
>> <cjensen at eecs.oregonstate.edu> wrote:
>>>
>>> Sorry for jumping into the conversation late.
>>
>> I apologize for latching on to one sentence. :)
>>
>>> with industry (if we want to use that term) and practice. We have been
>>> studying so many tools designed to make joining OSS communities easier,
>>> all of which have so far failed to see any adoption or have any impact
>>> on practice.
>>
>> What type of tools are you talking about?  I participate in and contribute
>> to
>> a number of FOSS projects and don't recall ever needing any special
>> tools for "joining".
>>
>> Until you start writing code, a web browser and mail client are all I know
>> you need.  Maybe an IRC client.
>>
>> --joel sherrill
>> RTEMS Maintainer
>
> --
> Carlos Jensen
> Assistant Professor
> School of EECS, Oregon State University
> +1-541-737-2555
>
>



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