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How to start an open source project slides-dec2016 | ODP
1
Dirk Frigne
6 December 2016
Praktijkervaring rond het
opzetten, onderhouden en
uitrollen van open source
Doel
•Inzicht verwerven in de wereld van open
source
•Helicopter overzicht van de wereld van de
geospatial Open source: “OSGeo”
•Inzicht verwerven in de dynamica van open
source community's
Producing Open Source Software
How to Run a Successful Free Software Project
Karl Fogel
http://producingoss.com/en/producingoss.pdf
At parties, people no longer give me a blank stare when I tell them I write free software. "Oh, yes, open
source—like Linux?" they say. I nod eagerly in agreement. "Yes, exactly! That's what I do." It's nice not
to be completely fringe anymore. In the past, the next question was usually fairly predictable: "How do
you make money doing that?" To answer, I'd summarize the economics of open source: that there are or-
ganizations in whose interest it is to have certain software exist, but that they don't need to sell copies,
they just want to make sure the software is available and maintained, as a tool instead of as a commodity
07/12/16 4uGent
Some more context ...
07/12/16 5uGent
Just my2c ...
07/12/16 6uGent
Dirk Frigne introduced
class-D mono amplifier with a low-pass filter for powering subwoofers
ir. “electrotechnisch ingenieur, zwakstroom” - 1986
07/12/16 7uGent
from Software Engineering
Agile
Scrum
Iterations
Engineering
>30 year professional experience
As Software Developer
Reading books, on the job training
07/12/16 8uGent
Bespoke Software - 1993
● DFC Software Engineering founded
● Graphical Software – technical software solutions
– Using commercial CAD platforms to develop user Interfaces to transform for
the creation of graphical documentation
– Clients: utility companies Gas/Water/Electricity/Telecom
– Projects: typical 2 – 5 years
– Team: typical 2- 7 person
– 2002: evolution to the use of open source libraries
– Hires: engineers, IT-experts
– Train on the Job.
07/12/16 9uGent
Geosparc Founded - 2008
● Focus on open source
● Focus on Spatial Data Infrastructures
● Transformation from project company to
platform company
● 2013: decision to transform to product company
● 2016: spotbooking, product to manage the usage
of the public domain
07/12/16 10uGent
to geo-it FOSS¹ expert
Dirk Frigne receives the INSPIRE
conference award
Dirk Frigne becomes Vice
President of OSGeo²
The second Vice-President, from Europe, is Dirk
Frigne. Dirk is an entrepreneur serving OSGeo
as Charter Member and member of geomajas
PSC. He is involved in the INSPIRE Committee
and received the Award for excellence in geo-
information technologies.
31 Januari 2016
2015 – Lisbon
INSPIRE Conference
[1] FOSS: Free Open Source Software
[2] OSGeo: Open Source Geospatial Foundation
[3] IOF: Industry Research & Development Fund
Januari 2014
Dirk Frigne joins the board of the IOF³
Ghent University
07/12/16 11uGent
Field of expertise
What is the GI S&T domain?(*)
(*) Slide Gi-N2K project
07/12/16 12uGent
Field of expertise
What is the GI S&T domain?(*)
(*) Slide Gi-N2K project
07/12/16 13uGent
Geomajas - Platform
OSGeo project to facilitate the build of Spatial Data Infrastructure’s
Started in 2006
Kul – DFC Software Engineering – Flemish environmental department
JAVA based
07/12/16 14uGent
Projects
2007
07/12/16 15uGent
Projects
2011
07/12/16 16uGent
Projects
2011
07/12/16 17uGent
Projects
2011
07/12/16 18uGent
Projects
2010
07/12/16 19uGent
Projects
2014
07/12/16 20uGent
Products
2015
Spotbooking
07/12/16 21uGent
Products
InspireGIS ¹
Eurostars project 2016 - 2018
Geosparc
Epsilon
Wetransform
[1] http://www.geosparc.com/news/new-inspire-gis-first-full-and-easy-use-gis-solution-inspire
Title:eurostars_eureka_eu_logos-partic
Creator:Adobe Illustrator(R) 18.1
CreationDate:16/06/15
LanguageLevel:2
OSGeo Live Demo
History of OSS ( 1980)
1986
History of OSS ( 1980)
1980: source code of laser printer missing
Xerox 9700
GNU General Public License
(GPL)
Tools:
- Emacs
- GCC
+ first operating system
- Linux (Linus Torvalds)
- X Windows System
Richard Stallman
http://www.slideshare.net/robertodicosmo3/achieving-impact-with-open-source-softw
Slide 3-7
Other initiatives
- Berkeley Software Distribution (BSD)
AT&T – loosley proprietary research project
(late 1970)
- X Window System (MIT) (mid 1980)
- Tex (free, publishing-quality typesetting
system)
Free vs Open
Free as in the “freedom to speech”, not as in
“free beer”
Motivation: software becomes more and
more important; more and more systems
and lives depend on it; so it should be free
(and open)
Getting started
The cathedral and the bazaar
http://www.catb.org/~esr/writings/cathedral-bazaar/
Basic principles
Identify a need
Develop a software prototype
Build a community
Set an ecosystem, with
– Users
– Developers
– Architects
– Service providers
All working together and playing by the rules
Look and feel matters! *New
Every good work of software starts by scratching a developer's personal itch.
Don't reinvent the wheel
Don't reinvent the wheel
What next?
Transforming private vision into a public one
Mission statement:
“Geomajas is the open source platform
to create Web GIS applications”
Explain the project
“integrate data real time from several
sources into one easy to deploy map in a
way the users can understand the
information presented and can act upon
the data as if it where real world objects”
What next?
Set up technical environment
Website
Github
Mailing list
Developer Guidelines
Demo's,
screenshots, …
Choosing a license
Berkeley Software Distribution (BSD)
Redistributie toegelaten, zowel in broncode
als binair.
Copyright & Disclaimer verplicht
Je mag geen gebruik maken van de namen
van de universiteit van California,
Berkeley noch van de contributors om de
software te promoten.
Choosing a license
GNU General Public (GPL) license:
“Copyleft” - licentie
Recht om het werk te wijzigen, afgeleide
werken te wijzigen en/of te herdistribueren
Onmogelijk om het afgeleid werk
voorwaarden op te leggen die de vrijheid
beperken.
Be open
Open source your code...
… not your time
Be authentic …
Avoid private discussions
Explain why you decide things...
Contribute to other communities
Version Control
Git...
… branch
Pull request …
& commit user branches into the
Master branch
Social and Political
Infrastructure
Succesful projects:
●
Technical quality
●
Health
●
New bug reports, new developers
●
Fun
●
Survivability
●
Independent from individual sponsor
Working together (co-creation)
Forkability of a project
●
The 'force' of an open source project
●
Binding communities together
Project organisation
●
Benevolent Dictator
●
Consensus-based Democracy
●
Voting (+1 +0 -0 -1)
Working together
Be as open about your organization's goals
as you can without compromising
business secrets
Business goals differ with every project
Ex: Google / Facebook / university / SME /
freelancer / employee / government
Money
•Most free software is written by paid developers
•Financial backing is good for the sustainability
•Can also divide a project in two groups!
•Respect non paid contributions!
•Money influences the project, so does adding time.
•All OSS is commercial software
What money can't buy
Commit rights
Participating in the decision process
Get respect in the community
Why OSS is fun
Why OSS is fun
Why OSS is fun
Why geosparc sponsors
Marketing
To be able to create more impact
To differentiate and to attract new people
Hire for the Long Term
People are important!
Everybody 'owns' the project
Managing (paid) volunteers
The real scarce resources:
- know how
- commit rights
- community connections
Why should you be involved?
Communications
You are what you write
Write terse mails
Don't be rude
Use your real name
Activity on the mailing list …
Be authentic
55
Quote
"Hire and promote first on the basis of integrity;
second, motivation; third, capacity; fourth,
understanding; fifth, knowledge; and last and
least, experience. Without integrity, motivation is
dangerous; without motivation, capacity is
impotent; without capacity, understanding is
limited; without understanding, knowledge is
meaningless; without knowledge, experience is
blind." — Dee Hock, founder of Visa.
OSGeo Live Demo
57
Q&A
Thank you very much!
Questions?
www.geosparc.com
www.geomajas.org

How to start an open source project slides-dec2016

  • 1.
    1 Dirk Frigne 6 December2016 Praktijkervaring rond het opzetten, onderhouden en uitrollen van open source
  • 2.
    Doel •Inzicht verwerven inde wereld van open source •Helicopter overzicht van de wereld van de geospatial Open source: “OSGeo” •Inzicht verwerven in de dynamica van open source community's
  • 3.
    Producing Open SourceSoftware How to Run a Successful Free Software Project Karl Fogel http://producingoss.com/en/producingoss.pdf At parties, people no longer give me a blank stare when I tell them I write free software. "Oh, yes, open source—like Linux?" they say. I nod eagerly in agreement. "Yes, exactly! That's what I do." It's nice not to be completely fringe anymore. In the past, the next question was usually fairly predictable: "How do you make money doing that?" To answer, I'd summarize the economics of open source: that there are or- ganizations in whose interest it is to have certain software exist, but that they don't need to sell copies, they just want to make sure the software is available and maintained, as a tool instead of as a commodity
  • 4.
  • 5.
  • 6.
    07/12/16 6uGent Dirk Frigneintroduced class-D mono amplifier with a low-pass filter for powering subwoofers ir. “electrotechnisch ingenieur, zwakstroom” - 1986
  • 7.
    07/12/16 7uGent from SoftwareEngineering Agile Scrum Iterations Engineering >30 year professional experience As Software Developer Reading books, on the job training
  • 8.
    07/12/16 8uGent Bespoke Software- 1993 ● DFC Software Engineering founded ● Graphical Software – technical software solutions – Using commercial CAD platforms to develop user Interfaces to transform for the creation of graphical documentation – Clients: utility companies Gas/Water/Electricity/Telecom – Projects: typical 2 – 5 years – Team: typical 2- 7 person – 2002: evolution to the use of open source libraries – Hires: engineers, IT-experts – Train on the Job.
  • 9.
    07/12/16 9uGent Geosparc Founded- 2008 ● Focus on open source ● Focus on Spatial Data Infrastructures ● Transformation from project company to platform company ● 2013: decision to transform to product company ● 2016: spotbooking, product to manage the usage of the public domain
  • 10.
    07/12/16 10uGent to geo-itFOSS¹ expert Dirk Frigne receives the INSPIRE conference award Dirk Frigne becomes Vice President of OSGeo² The second Vice-President, from Europe, is Dirk Frigne. Dirk is an entrepreneur serving OSGeo as Charter Member and member of geomajas PSC. He is involved in the INSPIRE Committee and received the Award for excellence in geo- information technologies. 31 Januari 2016 2015 – Lisbon INSPIRE Conference [1] FOSS: Free Open Source Software [2] OSGeo: Open Source Geospatial Foundation [3] IOF: Industry Research & Development Fund Januari 2014 Dirk Frigne joins the board of the IOF³ Ghent University
  • 11.
    07/12/16 11uGent Field ofexpertise What is the GI S&T domain?(*) (*) Slide Gi-N2K project
  • 12.
    07/12/16 12uGent Field ofexpertise What is the GI S&T domain?(*) (*) Slide Gi-N2K project
  • 13.
    07/12/16 13uGent Geomajas -Platform OSGeo project to facilitate the build of Spatial Data Infrastructure’s Started in 2006 Kul – DFC Software Engineering – Flemish environmental department JAVA based
  • 14.
  • 15.
  • 16.
  • 17.
  • 18.
  • 19.
  • 20.
  • 21.
    07/12/16 21uGent Products InspireGIS ¹ Eurostarsproject 2016 - 2018 Geosparc Epsilon Wetransform [1] http://www.geosparc.com/news/new-inspire-gis-first-full-and-easy-use-gis-solution-inspire Title:eurostars_eureka_eu_logos-partic Creator:Adobe Illustrator(R) 18.1 CreationDate:16/06/15 LanguageLevel:2
  • 22.
  • 23.
  • 24.
  • 25.
    History of OSS( 1980) 1980: source code of laser printer missing Xerox 9700
  • 26.
    GNU General PublicLicense (GPL) Tools: - Emacs - GCC + first operating system - Linux (Linus Torvalds) - X Windows System Richard Stallman
  • 27.
  • 28.
    Other initiatives - BerkeleySoftware Distribution (BSD) AT&T – loosley proprietary research project (late 1970) - X Window System (MIT) (mid 1980) - Tex (free, publishing-quality typesetting system)
  • 29.
    Free vs Open Freeas in the “freedom to speech”, not as in “free beer” Motivation: software becomes more and more important; more and more systems and lives depend on it; so it should be free (and open)
  • 30.
    Getting started The cathedraland the bazaar http://www.catb.org/~esr/writings/cathedral-bazaar/
  • 31.
    Basic principles Identify aneed Develop a software prototype Build a community Set an ecosystem, with – Users – Developers – Architects – Service providers All working together and playing by the rules Look and feel matters! *New Every good work of software starts by scratching a developer's personal itch.
  • 32.
  • 33.
  • 34.
    What next? Transforming privatevision into a public one Mission statement: “Geomajas is the open source platform to create Web GIS applications”
  • 35.
    Explain the project “integratedata real time from several sources into one easy to deploy map in a way the users can understand the information presented and can act upon the data as if it where real world objects”
  • 36.
    What next? Set uptechnical environment Website Github Mailing list Developer Guidelines Demo's, screenshots, …
  • 37.
    Choosing a license BerkeleySoftware Distribution (BSD) Redistributie toegelaten, zowel in broncode als binair. Copyright & Disclaimer verplicht Je mag geen gebruik maken van de namen van de universiteit van California, Berkeley noch van de contributors om de software te promoten.
  • 38.
    Choosing a license GNUGeneral Public (GPL) license: “Copyleft” - licentie Recht om het werk te wijzigen, afgeleide werken te wijzigen en/of te herdistribueren Onmogelijk om het afgeleid werk voorwaarden op te leggen die de vrijheid beperken.
  • 39.
    Be open Open sourceyour code... … not your time Be authentic … Avoid private discussions Explain why you decide things... Contribute to other communities
  • 40.
    Version Control Git... … branch Pullrequest … & commit user branches into the Master branch
  • 41.
    Social and Political Infrastructure Succesfulprojects: ● Technical quality ● Health ● New bug reports, new developers ● Fun ● Survivability ● Independent from individual sponsor
  • 42.
    Working together (co-creation) Forkabilityof a project ● The 'force' of an open source project ● Binding communities together Project organisation ● Benevolent Dictator ● Consensus-based Democracy ● Voting (+1 +0 -0 -1)
  • 43.
    Working together Be asopen about your organization's goals as you can without compromising business secrets Business goals differ with every project Ex: Google / Facebook / university / SME / freelancer / employee / government
  • 44.
    Money •Most free softwareis written by paid developers •Financial backing is good for the sustainability •Can also divide a project in two groups! •Respect non paid contributions! •Money influences the project, so does adding time. •All OSS is commercial software
  • 45.
    What money can'tbuy Commit rights Participating in the decision process Get respect in the community
  • 46.
  • 47.
  • 48.
  • 49.
    Why geosparc sponsors Marketing Tobe able to create more impact To differentiate and to attract new people Hire for the Long Term People are important! Everybody 'owns' the project
  • 50.
    Managing (paid) volunteers Thereal scarce resources: - know how - commit rights - community connections
  • 51.
    Why should yoube involved?
  • 52.
    Communications You are whatyou write Write terse mails Don't be rude Use your real name Activity on the mailing list … Be authentic
  • 53.
    55 Quote "Hire and promotefirst on the basis of integrity; second, motivation; third, capacity; fourth, understanding; fifth, knowledge; and last and least, experience. Without integrity, motivation is dangerous; without motivation, capacity is impotent; without capacity, understanding is limited; without understanding, knowledge is meaningless; without knowledge, experience is blind." — Dee Hock, founder of Visa.
  • 54.
  • 55.
    57 Q&A Thank you verymuch! Questions? www.geosparc.com www.geomajas.org

Editor's Notes

  • #25 Milestone 1980 Before 1980: Sharing was common use - Hardware was not compatible (no standards) - There was no internet – sharing was not simple Pre 1980: Hardware was a differentiator Machine depended (Assembler) No high level programming languages Sharing software was common practice Software became USP Software became ‘protected
  • #26 IBM approached Microsoft in July 1980 to provide the operating system for its upcoming personal computer. For this deal, Microsoft bought a system called 86-DOS from a company called Seattle Computer Products and, after adapting it for the PC, delivered it to IBM as 'PC DOS' in exchange for a one-time fee of $50,000.
  • #27 Milestone 1980 Richard Stallman worked in the Artificial Intelligence Lab at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology in the 1970s and early '80s - In 1980, Stallman and some other hackers at the AI Lab were refused access to the source code for the software of a newly installed laser printer, the Xerox 9700. Stallman had modified the software for the Lab's previous laser printer (the XGP, Xerographic Printer), so it electronically messaged a user when the person's job was printed, and would message all logged-in users waiting for print jobs if the printer was jammed. Not being able to add these features to the new printer was a major inconvenience, as the printer was on a different floor from most of the users. This experience convinced Stallman of people's need to be able to freely modify the software they use Stallman wrote: The modern computers of the era, such as the VAX or the 68020, had their own oper- ating systems, but none of them were free software: you had to sign a nondisclosure agreement even to get an executable copy. This meant that the first step in using a computer was to promise not to help your neighbor. A cooperating community was forbidden. The rule made by the owners of proprietary software was, "If you share with your neighbor, you are a pirate. If you want any changes, beg us to make them."
  • #28 Biggest accomplishment: GNU licence GNU General Public License (GPL) In effect, it uses copyright law to achieve an effect opposite to that of traditional copyright: instead of limiting the software's distribution, it prevents Anyone , even the author, from limiting distribution. For Stallman, this was better than simply putting his code into the public domain. If it were in the public domain, any particular copy of it could be incorporated into a proprietary program (as also sometimes happens to code under permissive open source copyright licenses) Tools: - Emacs - GCC + first operating system - Linux (Linus Torvalds) - X Windows System.
  • #29 Slides 3 - 7
  • #30 Motivation: the pleasure of working with like-minded collaborators, or even by a simple human desire for glory. Software must run: common interest to work together … + high quality code as a result - it was just better code. Businesses are already using open source software in day2day operations.
  • #31 Browser war: Netscape vs Microsoft internet explorer (1990) This was a first war for data-sharing?
  • #41 GPL: het gebruik maken van de copyright wetgeving om copyright te voorkomen.
  • #45 Ref OSGeo discussion – Rasdaman (Raster Data manager) Voting: +1 +0 -0 -1
  • #48 Even as a sponsor, obey the rules! Be authentic Explain Why Commit rights Participating in the decision process Get respect in the community You are being watched!
  • #49 Work together with others! (& learn to work together) Share idea's and meet interesting people Help people and get help when needed Respect and get respect for what you do Pizza & Beer & Conferences
  • #50 Work together with others! (& learn to work together) Share idea's and meet interesting people Help people and get help when needed Respect and get respect for what you do Pizza & Beer & Conferences
  • #51 Work together with others! (& learn to work together) Share idea's and meet interesting people Help people and get help when needed Respect and get respect for what you do Pizza & Beer & Conferences
  • #52 Marketing Dual – licensing To be able to create more impact To differentiate and to attract new people Hire for the Long Term People are important! Everybody 'owns' the project
  • #54 Take ownership of your project Meet interesting people Co-create Be part of the community