We have started the selection process for the project we’re to work on in CS 401. The challenge in this is finding a project that is not only interesting but also has enough information so that contributing is not arduous.
From the blog sflynn1976 » wsu-cs by sflynn1976 and used with permission of the author. All other rights reserved by the author.
What do I want to accomplish in this course? I’m not really sure, yet. All I know is I would like to further my knowledge of open source software and help in any way I can, I guess I picked the right class. I hope we can find a project that we can actually make an impact on and can look back and think, “I helped make that work”. I’m sure I will like working in a group this semester as long as we all can work together and not end up one or two people doing all the work.
What do I want to learn in the course? More About Open Source. I like the concept of it but I have to admit my knowledge for the differences between “open source”, “free”, “libre”, and more of the terms we talked about on the first day are pretty limited. I thought I had a slight bit of knowlege on the subject but, unfortunately on the first day that was quickly invalidated.
About the book, I don’t know how I feel about reading for long periods of time on a computer screen, I just read for about 15 minutes or so and took a break and I’m fine but the idea of a book not costing money while being directly related to the course is great. and the whole “not having to pay” is great, as I mentioned. Free is good.
From the blog jamescelona » WSU CS by jamescelona and used with permission of the author. All other rights reserved by the author.
As this is my first post, I will try to be pithy. Having read the first three chapters of Teaching open source, I find myself intrigued by the idea of contributing to an open source project. I am familiar, in a somewhat shallow sense, with many of the tools used in an open source community (such as bugtrackers, version-control software, IRC, wikis and blogs), I look forward to learning more about them and how they add value to such projects.
I hope to, by the completion of CS 401, have a better grasp of the open source community and plan to continue, as I am able, to contibute.
As a non-pithy sidenote, I am a gamer who enjoys the use of add-on programs to enhance my experience. Many of these add-ons are open source with dedicated communities surrounding them. I imagine that exposure to these communities over the last few years will come in handy.
From the blog sflynn1976 » wsu-cs by sflynn1976 and used with permission of the author. All other rights reserved by the author.
My goal during this course is to learn about how software engineering and development works in real world company environments. I’d like to learn the various aspects of working in a team environment on a large open source software package. I’d also like to become familiar with the various terms and scenarios a software engineer/developer in the real world environment is faced with on a daily basis. I hope to become a better programmer and team player through the course of this course.
From the blog nzahid » WSU CS by nzahid and used with permission of the author. All other rights reserved by the author.
Hello,
I am really looking forward to starting this course and actually contributing to a large scale, open source project. I don’t really have a preference about which project we end up contributing to, whether it is Firefox, Sage, or anything else. I am mostly just excited to look at real world code and hopefully make some useful and interesting changes to the code.
I am hoping to get several things out of this course. First of all, I would really like to contribute something worthwhile to an open source project. I want to be able to look back at these projects and see that I actually made a difference, even if it is not huge.
Secondly, I would like to be able to apply some of the things I have learned in previous CS courses to these projects. We learned so many useful techniques of Software Development in our 375 class (Software Analysis and Design), that I would really enjoy seeing it all in action. Things like Design Patterns, Polymorphism, etc. are very important factors in elegant software design and though I have used all of these techniques in real world code at my internships, I would like to have a chance to implement them all in my own way for one of these projects.
Finally, I am looking forward to using GIT more on my own. Again, I am familiar with GIT from my internships, yet there is plenty more I would like to learn about it. I know it is an incredibly powerful tool and I can’t wait to get started with really putting its features to use.
Overall, I think this is going to be a great course and I think we are going to learn a lot.
From the blog trevorhodde by Trevor and used with permission of the author. All other rights reserved by the author.
I have been waiting for this class for 7 semesters, and it’s finally here. The climax of the undergraduate degree in Computer Science. I hope to learn a lot in this class, and with a group like this:
Who wouldn’t be excited?
I can’t wait to start our project and get some real experience with VCS and working in a group dynamic. Utilizing a VCS effectively and learning to work with a diverse group of programmers is the most exciting part of this class. I’m hoping this class will further my readiness for the ‘real world.’ Regardless of the fact that I have already been accepted to WPI’s graduate program. Yeah, that’s pretty exciting in and of itself!
I am hoping we get to work on a really cool OSS project. Obviously, having your name on an OSS project looks great, and it increases your self-esteem to a degree. You can really respect yourself, having contributed to an OSS project.
From the blog jforkey » wsu-cs by jforkey and used with permission of the author. All other rights reserved by the author.