[Ryedale] [alan at popey.com: [lugmaster] Fwd: [admin] [Feedback] Workshop announcement: Engaging Developers with Open Source Projects]

[Al Girling]

Hi folks,

Forwarding this from the LUGmasters list.

Al

----- Forwarded message from Alan Pope <alan at popey.com> -----

From: Alan Pope <alan at popey.com>
To: "A closed discussion list for UK LUGMasters." <lugmaster at mailman.lug.org.uk>
Date: Wed, 30 Sep 2009 14:50:38 +0100
Subject: [lugmaster] Fwd: [admin] [Feedback] Workshop announcement: Engaging
	Developers with Open Source Projects

This may be of interest to your LUG membership..

---------- Forwarded message ----------

OSS Watch Workshop:  Engaging Developers with Open Source Projects

Date:  Friday, 9 October 2009, 09:30 - 16:00
Venue: Oxford University Computing Services, 13 Banbury Road, Oxford

For more information and to register, please visit:
http://www.oss-watch.ac.uk/events/2009-10-09/programme.xml

Why should software developers who create local customisations of open
source software take the further step of submitting their changes back to
the main project? Where do people who make contributions fit into an
existing open source project, and why do projects want them?

While it takes more effort initially, having local changes integrated in a
project becomes efficient in the long run: local modifications need not be
re-applied at every upgrade, and the project takes over their maintenance.
Also, by building up a record of useful contributions, one can gain
influence in shaping the project's future. From the project's point of
view, they not only gain by the improvements people submit, but become more
sustainable by building up a larger group of people prepared to work on the
project.

Not contributing back can cause real problems. For example, some
institutions which have customised their Virtual Learning Environments -
but not submitted their changes back to the project - have run into trouble
when they upgraded to a new version which clashed with their
customisations.  Such problems could have been avoided had they been able
to integrate their local changes with the code base of the main project.

This OSS Watch workshop will present this argument in greater detail,
explaining how developers engaged in customisations of open source software
should make their contributions to a project. Speakers will present the
issue from both sides of the process: that of the open source projects that
look to encourage contributions, and that of external developers who might
want to make them.

The event is free, and open to all.


Programme:

- 09.30 Registration
- 10.30 Welcome
- 10.40 Presentation: The life of a Wookie (Scott Wilson, University of
Bolton)
- 11.25 Break
- 11.45 Presentation: Be careful what you wish for with Open Source (Dr.
Ian Boston, University of Cambridge)
- 12.30 Lunch
- 13.30 Presentation/Demo: The Line of Code That Could: Contributing to
Moodle (Mark Johnson, Taunton's College)
- 14.15 Break
- 14.35 Plenary session
- 15.20 Conclusions
- 15.50 Close

Attendees are invited afterwards to an informal gathering at a pub, with
members of OSS Watch.

_______________________________________________
admin mailing list
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----- End forwarded message -----

-- 
Alistair Girling

Home-page:                      <http://al.sdf-eu.org>
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