From the blog CS@Worcester – CurrentlyCompiling by currentlycompiling and used with permission of the author. All other rights reserved by the author.

The LibreFoodPantry (LFP) website and Thea’s Pantry GitLab Group are full of knowledge about the open-source project itself and related information to support the users and developers. After reading through these resources, I felt I gained a more thorough understanding of the purpose of this software and it’s potential trajectory. Specifically relating to the LFP website – I found the Values section extremely useful, as it provides clear expectations for all community members with links to further understand the Code of Conduct and to learn more about Agile values and FOSSisms. Regarding the information about Thea’s Pantry in GitLab, there are many useful subsections within this group, but I was particularly impressed by the Architecture section as it presents the microservices architecture clearly through diagrams with clear systems, features, and components. An additional useful link relating to Thea’s Pantry GitLab Group is User Stories. After reading through the different situations expressing the intended use of the software, I had a better understanding of the role that this project plays throughout every step of this process on both, the staff side and the guest side. I was surprised reading the User Story titled “A Pantry Administrator Requests a Monthly Report for the Worcester County Food Bank” as I was unaware of the link between the two systems. Overall, these webpages provide a simple and clear interface to learn about the project’s values and community expectations, as well as, technical details.

From the blog CS@Worcester by cameronbaron and used with permission of the author. All other rights reserved by the author.

After reading about LibreFoodPantry, I found the 16 FOSSisms on the Values page quite useful. A few of them stood out to me, such as “Ask Forgiveness, Not Permission”, which helps encourage students to make changes even if they might be incorrect. These changes, along with their feedback, can provide valuable lessons and experience to the students, and any mistakes can be easily undone. Another FOSS value that stood out was “Begin with the Finishing Touches”, which essentially means that students should start their contributions off with small bug fixes and the like to give them a sense of productive contribution. If they start off too grand, then they might become discouraged and unlikely to be productive. I chose to write about these FOSSisms because they’re helpful and encouraging “rules” for a open-source newcomer to follow, as it can help introduce someone to the space and give them an idea on how to navigate the ethics of open-source.

One thing from Thea’s Pantry I found very useful was the User Stories in the Documentation. These are stories of how the user would interact with the software, which gives a guide to how the software might be designed. I chose to write about this because having step-by-step instructions on how a user or administrator would interact with the software makes it less complicated for developers to understand how the software should work. Figuring out the user interface and design flow first is much easier than trying to code and create the design flow as you go.

From the blog CS@Worcester – Josh's Coding Journey by joshuafife and used with permission of the author. All other rights reserved by the author.

LibreFoodPantry provides a very useful and helpful tool for students not only to practice with software development (and understanding Open-Source work), but also to provide a helpful service to local communities. The project provides a food pantry to local communities that use it to teach their students about Free and Open-Source Code. The most useful portion of their site is their values section. This section highlights their values and how they teach their students. They focus on Agile development, Free and Open-Source Code, as well as their Code of Conduct.

I thought this section was most interesting because I found the values enriching to refresh my memory on. I also thought it was very fitting and useful for the site’s mission and methods. It accurately conveyed exactly what they try to do and how they do it in a small section.

Thea’s Pantry is Worcester State’s branch of LibreFoodPantry. I learned with it throughout my time at the University. I found the GuestInfoSystem most interesting, as it was what I worked with in most of my classes, and I got a good grip of it. I found the experiments section interesting, as it showed me what was being worked on and tested currently for the system.

From the blog CS@Worcester – WSU CS Blog: Ben Gelineau by Ben Gelineau and used with permission of the author. All other rights reserved by the author.