开放源代码软件开发模式的前途

引 言公立学校和其他教育机构应该逐渐熟悉开放源代码项目导致的某些机会。利用因特网作为潜在的协作媒介,开放源代码开发项目所产生的软件和其他资源能满足很多学校的需求。教育工作者一旦注意到开放源代码资源,将会立刻发现它们的优势,可以用这些价格低廉的产品替代许多学校正在使用的昂贵商用产品。开放源代码资源没有商用资源特有的那些使用限制,低成本和适应性使得开放源代码产品具有很强的吸引力,又不失其重要性,这些资源的开发方式本身与核心教育的价值观一致,即教育公平的理想。开放源代码的教育软件开放源代码方式与公司开发的商…     

Using open source software in product development: a primer

There are important legal aspects involved in using open source software in commercial products. Here are answers to common questions on how to handle these issues to mitigate risk. The use of open source software in industrial products is growing rapidly because its many advantages are well known. However although we in industry understand liability and intellectual-property-right risks fairly well, the implication of OSS-related legal and managerial issues are new to many of us. Legal aspects can vary greatly from one piece of OSS to another depending on the license scheme used. We discuss the major legal aspects and risks in using OSS and how to mitigate them in product development. We've ordered the information in a top-down approach, starting with a definition of OSS, its benefits, and then some risks and experiences with managing it in software engineering practice.     

Ethical decision making in technology development: a case study of participation in a large-scale information systems development project

Advanced systems engineering has traditionally paid little attention to ethical concerns relative to other technical and non-technical issues. This is particularly evident in systems analysis, design, and development methodologies. This paper asks if it is possible that the lack of emphasis upon ethical considerations in development methodologies can result in the failure of advanced technology development projects? In order to explore this contention, the paper sets out the findings of a case study of a large-scale advanced technology project in a multinational engineering company involving the implementation of an enterprise resource planning system. The research examined the extent to which ethical issues emerged in the project and assesses the impact of ethical considerations upon the technology development process and its outcomes. Evidence is presented which shows how ethical concerns clearly impacted upon the outcome of the project, supporting the contention that ethics was a success factor in the case presented. However, it was also clear that the kinds of ethical considerations that emerged were highly complex, and associated with an “ethics of care”. The findings suggested that researchers should examine the potential of an “ethics of care” as a way of complimenting the “ethics of rights” currently dominant within engineering ethics.     

Mission-critical development with open source software: lessons learned

Using open source software components in a mission-critical project not only can keep the project within budget but can also result in a more robust and flexible tool. When considering an open source component, prospective users should evaluate the project for several characteristics: maturity, longevity, and flexibility. For greatest benefit, the users should also build and maintain a strong working relationship with the component's developers. We compiled our experiences developing SAP into a developer's guide for those considering using open source in their mission-critical application. In addition to discussing how to evaluate open source components suitability for inclusion in a mission-critical application, the guide suggests strategies for working with open source development teams.     

Competency rallying in electronic markets: implications for open source project success

This paper studies the success of Open Source Software (OSS) projects in attracting developer interest and achieving project efficiency. The focus of our study is on examining the relationship between the four sets of capabilities proposed in the Theory of Competency Rallying (TCR) and the success of OSS projects. The data collected from 607 OSS projects mainly confirm that the capabilities proposed in the TCR are necessary for the success of OSS projects. The results of this study show that in order to succeed, OSS projects should constantly identify their market??s quality and functionality needs. Ability of OSS project managers to know which developers possess certain skills required to meet a particular market need is also found to be critical. Another capability that is recognised to be crucial in predicting project success is the ability of OSS developers in effectively addressing market needs and continuously learning from such experiences. Finally, the ability of stakeholders involving in addressing a particular market need to efficiently collaborate and fulfil that specific market need is found to be another essential capability required for OSS projects to succeed. Implications of the results for practitioners and the research community are presented.     

The TRAINS project: a case study in building a conversational planning agent

Abstract

The TRAINS project is an effort to build a conversationally proficient planning assistant. A key part of the project is the construction of the TRAINS system, which provides the research platform for a wide range of issues in natural language understanding, mixed-initiative planning systems, and representing and reasoning about time, actions and events. Four years have now passed since the beginning of the project. Each year a demonstration system has been produced that focused on a dialogue that illustrates particular aspects of the research. The commitment to building complete integrated systems is a significant overhead on the research, but it is considered essential to guarantee that the results constitute real progress in the field. This paper describes the goals of the project, and the experience with the effort so far.     

开放源代码软件开发的基本问题

尽管开放源代码软件运动发展得相当成功,但是普通大众总感到它不易使用。本文讨论当前开放源代码软件开发趋势中的5个基本问题,并提出可能有助于克服这些问题的解决方案。1.　用户界面设计出于某种原因,开放源代码项目在用户界面设计上有许多问题。我猜想用户界面的低质量并非是一种原因造成的。在开放源代码圈内存在一种认识,认为要在完成了真正的工作之后再去设计友好的用户界面,而不把用户界面设计当成真正的工作。然而,如果开放源代码希望真正繁荣起来,使普通大众使用其工具,他们必须承认,大多数用户可能从来不知道开放源代码人员曾为复…     

Effort, co-operation and co-ordination in an open source software project: GNOME

Abstract This paper presents results from research into open source projects from a software engineering perspective. The research methodology employed relies on public data retrieved from the CVS repository of the GNOME project and relevant discussion groups. This methodology is described, and results concerning the special characteristics of open source software development are given. These data are used for a first approach to estimating the total effort to be expended.     

Job-shop development model: a case study

Traditional effort-estimation models can be frustrating, especially when staff are divided among multiple projects. The authors evaluate a model based on dividing activities into jobs. It accounts for divided time and more accurately categorizes rework costs. The model lets organizations represent software development in more detail than they can with many existing models. By breaking each project into batches and each batch into jobs, the model recognizes that, at any point in time, parts of the software may be at different stages of completion     

IT-based open learning: a case study in management learning

Abstract  This paper is concerned with the relationship between open learning and the use of computer mediated communications systems (CMCS) in supporting open learning. In order to illuminate this relationship, we report on a small scale trial of a model of open learning developed at Lancaster University: ITOL — Information Technology-based Open Learning. The ITOL model has successfully been applied to an M.A. in Management Learning, and through a case study approach, we discuss an evaluation of this new computer mediated M.A. and point out some of the issues that emerge in introducing CMCS into professional learning situations.     

Up from alchemy [open source development]

Open source is a vital step in moving software engineering from arcane art to science. Three hundred years ago, alchemy became science when its practitioners abandoned secrecy to embrace process transparency and peer review. Today software engineering is undergoing a similar transition, moving from closed to open source development. Only when we complete this transition, adopting open source development as a normal practice, can software development assume its place as a mature engineering discipline. Both evidence and theory confirm that open source delivers better reliability, lower costs, shorter development times and high quality of code (including better security).     

The open source acid test

In the late 1970s, AT&T openly licensed the source code for its fledgling Unix operating system to universities and government research labs. This move got Bill Joy and Sun Microsystems started and resulted in several other famous open source product developments such as sendmail and BIND (Berkeley Internet Name Domain). Over the next two decades, Unix took root and became the foundation for several prominent computer companies such as Sun Microsystems, Hewlett-Packard, IBM, and SCO (Santa Cruz Operation). You can safely argue that Unix is partially responsible for the Internet as well, and it has certainly been instrumental in stimulating CAD/CAM software, chip design automation, and other technologies fundamental to computing. By literally giving away the source code-with restrictions-AT&T seeded several industries. Open source is the latest in a long line of fads that promise a software development panacea. The author considers whether it can survive the acid test of mainstream viability in the context of Linux     

Maintenance-oriented design and development: a case study

Maintenance efforts are the most time and resource consuming of the entire software development process. The authors propose a different point of view that shifts the traditional perspective and thinks of the implementation stage as maintenance as well. They present a case study of the development of educational video games for children to determine the proposed method's benefits and drawbacks in this domain.     

Creativity in Project Work: a longitudinal study of a product development project

The study approaches the issue of control versus freedom in creative work. A high-tech product development project was studied during its three year execution phase. Thirty engineers worked on the project, in three sub-groups. The climate was measured on eleven occasions and the results fed back to the project group for common analysis. The climate was highly creative, even if it deteriorated somewhat at the end. The management of the project and the structure was loose. These organisational circumstances paved the way for a technologically advanced, spearhead, future-directed but expensive product to come out. However, the customer wanted a less advanced and cheaper product. The goal of the customer had not been clearly communicated to the people in the project. The goal of the project leadership was to develop an advanced product for future applications as well. The goal corresponded to the needs, values and competencies of the project staff. According to the rule-book for effective project management, the project was badly managed and it consequently became a failure. But from a creativity point of view, and in a longer time perspective, it became a success. A follow-up three years later showed that the product had been applied in several new defence systems.     

The many meanings of open source

Many software development methodologies are called "open source." However simply stating that a project is open source doesn't precisely describe the approach used to support the project. A multidisciplinary viewpoint can help determine those characteristics that are common to open source projects and those that vary among projects. These characteristics form the basis for a taxonomy of open source projects that's useful for analyzing and setting up projects. They also provide a starting point for understanding what "open source" means.     

Virtual organizational learning in open source software development projects

We studied virtual organizational learning in open source software (OSS) development projects. Specifically, our research focused on learning effects of OSS projects and the factors that affect the learning process. The number and percentage of resolved bugs and bug resolution time of 118 SourceForge.net OSS projects were used to measure the learning effects. Projects were characterized by project type, number and experience of developers, number of bugs, and bug resolution time. Our results provided evidence of virtual organizational learning in OSS development projects and support for several factors as determinants of performance. Team size was a significant predictor, with mid-sized project teams functioning best. Teams of three to seven developers exhibited the highest efficiency over time and teams of eight to 15 produced the lowest mean time for bug resolution. Increasing the percentage of bugs assigned to specific developers or boosting developer participation in other OSS projects also improved performance. Furthermore, project type introduced variability in project team performance.     

Network ties and the success of open source software development

Prior network-based research on open source software (OSS) development has focused on the benefit of network ties and assumed all network ties play the same role. We adopt a fine-grained view of network relations to investigate the impact of network ties on the success of OSS development. Through examining the development of OSS projects hosted by SourceForge, we find that co-membership among project teams is an effective mechanism for building network ties, through which knowledge and expertise flows across projects in OSS community and, therefore, contributes to the success of OSS development. However, network ties among projects not only confer benefit, but also incur various cost, and due to the different growth patterns of cost and benefit, network ties have a diminishing return to project success. In addition, we find network ties of leader–follower type and follower–leader type are more beneficial to OSS success than other types of ties, and network ties connecting to projects of later development stages are more beneficial than those connecting to projects of earlier stages. Our study provides useful guidelines and suggestions as to how to leverage the knowledge and expertise of others for successful development of OSS projects.     

From proprietary to open source tools in information systems development

Over the past decade, the University of Navarra's academic management system evolved from a mainframe environment to windows-based client-server architecture and then to a Web environment. Aiming for independence from vendors, these developers adopted open-source solutions for their Web applications and were delighted with the results.