Open Source management

NB! This page now reflects the Spring 2010 course! The stuff is under construction.

Course Schedule

The course runs in three parts:

• Lecture/lab session - end of January / beginning of February
• Independent work - February - April
• Final seminar - April 12.

Lecture/lab session

Monday, January 25, T-321, 10.15 - 11.45

• Course intro - what is going to happen
• Lecture: FLOSS definition, differences from proprietary models. Free Software vs Open Source vs Freeware. FSF vs OSI
• Homework: Read the arguments of both schools (FSF and OSI) at
  • http://www.gnu.org/philosophy/free-software-for-freedom.html (FSF view)
  • http://www.catb.org/~esr/open-source.html (OSI view)

and write a comparison (can be blogged or e-mailed; up to 5 points). Due: next Monday, February 1.

• Links:
  • Free Software Foundation http://www.fsf.org
  • Open Source Initiative http://www.opensource.org
  • Debian Social Contract http://www.debian.org/social_contract
  • Hackers by Steven Levy http://www.gutenberg.org/etext/729 (two first chapters; the full book is available from IMKE library)
  • Wikipedia articles (for quick reference and further links):
    • http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Free_software
    • http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Open-source_software
    • http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hacker_culture

Monday, January 25. T-321, 12.15 - 13.45

• Lecture/demonstration/practice: Battle for Wesnoth as our playground. Main ideas of the game, overview of the wesnoth/data directory. Creating a scenario and a campaign. WML.
• Links:
  • The Battle for Wesnoth home page http://www.wesnoth.org
  • Wesnoth Forum http://www.wesnoth.org/forum/
  • Building Maps http://www.wesnoth.org/wiki/BuildingMaps
  • Building Campaigns http://wiki.wesnoth.org/BuildingCampaigns
  • Battle for Wesnoth Campaign Design How-To by Eric S. Raymond http://catb.org/~esr/wesnoth/campaign-design-howto.html

Tuesday, January 26. T-321, 10.15 - 11.45

• Wesnoth lab, formation of the teams, accounts for Trac and Subversion
• Homework: installing and playing Wesnoth. Write a game review (can be blogged or e-mailed; up to 5 points). Due: next Monday, February 1.

Wednesday, January 27, T-321, 10.15 - 11.45

• Lecture: FLOSS development: environments, tools and methods. Trac (wiki, tickets, versioning) and Subversion (with possible tools).
• Team homework: the first draft of the campaign, milestones, team member roles etc (up to 5 points to all members). Due: Wednesday, February 3 (the last meeting)
• Links:
  • Trac home page http://trac.edgewall.org
  • The Trac User and Administrator Guide http://trac.edgewall.org/wiki/TracGuide
  • Subversion FAQ http://subversion.tigris.org/faq.html
  • Version Control with Subversion (aka "The Subversion Book") http://svnbook.red-bean.com/

Wednesday, January 27, T-321, 11.15 - 13.45

• Wesnoth and tools lab.

Thursday, January 28, T-321, 10.15 - 11.45

• Lecture: FLOSS as business: different models
• Homework: Write a case study about three IT companies using Open Source as a part of their business strategy (one of them could do it a its main business, e.g. Red Hat). Due: Monday, February 15
• Links:
  • The Cathedral and the Bazaar by Eric S. Raymond http://www.catb.org/~esr/writings/cathedral-bazaar/ (especially "The Magic Cauldron")
  • Why Free Software/Open Source Software? Look at the Numbers! by David A. Wheeler http://www.dwheeler.com/oss_fs_why.html (a bit outdated for now)
  • Community Created Content: Law, Business and Policy by Herkko Hietanen, Ville Oksanen and Mikko Välimäki. http://www.turre.com/wp-content/uploads/webkirja_koko_optimoitu2.pdf
  • Innovation Happens Elsewhere by Ron Goldman and Richard P. Gabriel http://dreamsongs.com/IHE/IHE.html
  • The Cluetrain Manifesto by Christopher Locke, Rick Levine, Doc Searls and David Weinberger http://cluetrain.com/book/index.html

Thursday, January 28, T-321, 12.15 - 13.45

• Wesnoth lab

Monday, February 1, T-321, 10.15 - 11.45

• Lecture: legal framework of FLOSS. Licenses, patents etc.
• Homework: Study the principle of copyleft and write an analysis about its three variants (strong, weak, none) with real-life examples. Due: Monday, February 15
• Links:
  • World Intellectual Property Organization http://www.wipo.int
  • FSF license page http://www.fsf.org/licensing/licenses/
  • OSI license page http://www.opensource.org/licenses/
  • Creative Commmons http://www.creativecommons.org
  • A New Economic System for the Information Era by Josè Malaquias http://www.malaquias.net/en/joseluis/articles/copyright.pdf
  • Information Liberation by Brian Martin http://www.uow.edu.au/arts/sts/bmartin/pubs/98il/
  • Anarchism Triumphant by Eben Moglen http://www.firstmonday.org/issues/issue4_8/moglen/index.html

Tuesday, February 2, T-321, 10.15 - 11.45

• Lecture: community building and management
• Homework: readings, analysis of the Wesnoth community (based on the forum), ideastorming on better campaign building (UP TO 5 POINTS). Due: Monday, March 1.
• Links:
  • The Cathedral and the Bazaar by Eric S. Raymond http://www.catb.org/~esr/writings/cathedral-bazaar/ (especially "Homesteading the Noosphere")
  • Characterizing the OSS Process by Andrea Capiluppi, Patricia Lago and Mauricio Morisio http://opensource.ucc.ie/icse2002/CapiluppiLagoMorisio.pdf
  • The Politics of Survival and Prestige by E. Gabriella Coleman http://www.healthhacker.org/biella/masterslongversion.html
  • The Future of Work in a Changing World by Charles Handy http://jmm.aaa.net.au/articles/8679.htm
  • New Community Networks: Wired For Change by Douglas Schiffer http://www.scn.org/ncn/
  • Internet Psychology by John Suler http://www.selfhelpmagazine.com/articles/internet/index.shtml

Wednesday, February 3, T-321, 10.15 - 11.45

• Lecture: Free Culture: the wider social impact of FLOSS
• Homework: FREE CULTURE CASE STUDY (UP TO 5 POINTS). Due: Monday, March 1.
• Links:
  • Creative Commmons http://www.creativecommons.org
  • Community Created Content: Law, Business and Policy by Herkko Hietanen, Ville Oksanen and Mikko Välimäki. http://www.turre.com/wp-content/uploads/webkirja_koko_optimoitu2.pdf
  • Free Culture by Larry Lessig http://www.free-culture.org/freecontent/
  • Code 2.0 by Larry Lessig http://pdf.codev2.cc/Lessig-Codev2.pdf
  • Giving It Away by Cory Doctorow (@Forbes) http://www.forbes.com/2006/11/30/cory-doctorow-copyright-tech-media_cz_cd_books06_1201doctorow.html
  • Scholarly Journals at the Crossroads by Ann S. Okerson and James J. O'Donnell http://www.arl.org/scomm/subversive/toc.html

Wednesday, February 3, T-321, 11.15 - 13.45

• Lab/discussion: Wesnoth campaign building

Independent work

• Campaign project - story outline, main characters, rough overview of scenarios - should be put up to the team's Trac page. Due: Monday, February 22 (3 weeks from the end of the lectures)
• Beta milestone - end of March (should be ready/playable with minor omissions)
• Final milestone - April 5 (a week before the end of the course). The campaign should be finished and the final version made available for download (in order to let others review it).
• Playtesting another team's campaign. Write a review (can be blogged or e-mailed). During the final week - deadline April 12 (the final day of the course)

Grading

• Wesnoth campaign (participation in team; everyone writes a short report about his/her role and contribution) - 50%
• Campaign testing/review (for another team's work) - 15%
• Literature reviews/reflections/case studies - 35%

Lecture notes

• FLOSS - history and concepts
• A practical example: Battle for Wesnoth
• FLOSS development: tools and methods
• The legal framework of FLOSS
• FLOSS in business
• Community building and management