Producing Open Source Software How to Run a Successful Free Software Project

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Producing Open Source Software Table of Contents Preface Why Write This Book? Who Should Read This Book? Sources Acknowledgments Disclaimer Chapter 1. Introduction History The Rise of Proprietary Software and Free Software Conscious resistance Accidental resistance "Free" Versus "Open Source" The Situation Today Chapter 2. Getting Started But First, Look Around Starting From What You Have Choose a Good Name Own the name in the important namespaces Have a Clear Mission Statement State That the Project is Free Features and Requirements List Development Status Development status should always reflect reality. Downloads Version Control and Bug Tracker Access Communications Channels Developer Guidelines Documentation Availability of documentation Developer documentation Demos, Screenshots, Videos, and Example Output Hosting Choosing a License and Applying It The "Do Anything" Licenses The GPL How to Apply a License to Your Software Setting the Tone Avoid Private Discussions Nip Rudeness in the Bud Codes of Conduct Practice Conspicuous Code Review Case study Be Open From Day One Waiting Just Creates an Exposure Event Opening a Formerly Closed Project Announcing Chapter 3. Technical Infrastructure What a Project Needs Web Site Canned Hosting Choosing a canned hosting site Hosting on fully open source infrastructure Anonymity and involvement Mailing Lists / Message Forums Choosing the Right Forum Management Software Spam Prevention Filtering posts Address hiding in archives Identification and Header Management The Great Reply-to Debate Two fantasies Archiving Mailing List / Message Forum Software Version Control Version Control Vocabulary Choosing a Version Control System Using the Version Control System Version everything Browsability Use branches to avoid bottlenecks Singularity of information Authorization Receiving and reviewing contributions Pull requests Commit notifications / commit emails Bug Tracker Interaction with Email Pre-Filtering the Bug Tracker IRC / Real-Time Chat Systems IRC Bots Commit Notifications in IRC Archiving IRC Wikis Wikis and Spam Choosing a Wiki Q&A Forums Translation Infrastructure Social Networking Services Chapter 4. Social and Political Infrastructure Forkability Benevolent Dictators Who Can Be a Good Benevolent Dictator? Consensus-based Democracy Version Control Means You Can Relax When Consensus Cannot Be Reached, Vote When To Vote Who Votes? Polls Versus Votes Vetoes Writing It All Down Joining or Creating a Non-Profit Organization Chapter 5. Participating as a Business or a Government Agency The Economics of Open Source Types of Corporate Involvement Governments and Open Source Being Open Source From Day One is Especially Important for Government Projects Hire for the Long Term Case study Appear as Many, Not as One Be Open About Your Motivations Money Can't Buy You Love Contracting Review and Acceptance of Changes Case study: the CVS password-authentication protocol Update Your RFI, RFP and Contract Language Open Source IV&V: Use Third-Party Review Throughout Development Don't Surprise Your Lawyers Funding Non-Programming Activities Quality Assurance (i.e., Professional Testing) Legal Advice and Protection Documentation and Usability Funding User Experience (UX) Work Providing Hosting/Bandwidth Providing Build Farms and Development Servers Sponsoring Conferences, Hackathons, and other Developer Meetings Marketing Open Source and Freedom from Vendor Lock-In Remember That You Are Being Watched Case study: You can't fake it, so don't try Don't Bash Competing Open Source Products Don't Bash Competing Vendors' Developers "Commercial" vs "Proprietary" Open Source and the Organization Dispel Myths Within Your Organization Foster Pools of Expertise in Multiple Places Establish contact early with relevant communities Don't Let Publicity Events Drive Project Schedule The Key Role of Middle Management Innersourcing Hiring Open Source Developers Evaluating Open Source Projects Crowdfunding and Bounties Chapter 6. Communications You Are What You Write Structure and Formatting Content Tone Recognizing Rudeness Face Avoiding Common Pitfalls Don't Post Without a Purpose Productive vs Unproductive Threads The Smaller the Topic, the Longer the Debate Avoid Holy Wars The "Noisy Minority" Effect Difficult People Handling Difficult People Case study Handling Growth Conspicuous Use of Archives Treat all resources like archives Codifying Tradition Choose the Right Forum Cross-Link Between Forums Publicity Announcing Releases and Other Major Events Announcing Security Vulnerabilities Receive the report Develop the fix quietly CVE numbers Pre-notification Distribute the fix publicly Chapter 7. Packaging, Releasing, and Daily Development Release Numbering Release Number Components The Simple Strategy The Even/Odd Strategy Release Branches Mechanics of Release Branches Stabilizing a Release Dictatorship by Release Owner Voting on Changes Managing collaborative release stabilization Release manager Packaging Format Name and Layout To capitalize or not to capitalize Pre-releases Compilation and Installation Binary Packages Testing and Releasing Candidate Releases Announcing Releases Maintaining Multiple Release Lines Security Releases Releases and Daily Development Planning Releases Chapter 8. Managing Participants Community and Motivation Delegation Distinguish clearly between inquiry and assignment Follow up after you delegate Notice what people are interested in Praise and Criticism Prevent Territoriality The Automation Ratio Automated testing Treat Every User as a Potential Participant Meeting In Person (Conferences, Hackfests, Code-a-Thons, Code Sprints, Retreats) Share Management Tasks as Well as Technical Tasks "Manager" Does Not Mean "Owner" Patch Manager Translation Manager Documentation Manager Issue Manager Transitions Committers Choosing Committers Revoking Commit Access Partial Commit Access Dormant Committers Avoid Mystery Credit Forks Handling a Fork Initiating a Fork Chapter 9. Legal Matters: Licenses, Copyrights, Trademarks and Patents Terminology Aspects of Licenses The GPL and License Compatibility Choosing a License The GNU General Public License The "or any later version" Option: Future-Proofing the GPL. The GNU Affero GPL: A Version of the GNU GPL for Server-Side Code The Copyright Holder Is Special, Even In Copyleft Licenses Is the GPL free or not free? Contributor Agreements Doing Nothing Contributor License Agreements Developer Certificates of Origin (DCO): A Simpler Style of CLA Proprietary Relicensing Problems with Proprietary Relicensing Trademarks Case study: Mozilla Firefox, the Debian Project, and Iceweasel Case study: The GNOME Logo and the Fish Pedicure Shop Patents Further Resources Appendix A. Canned Hosting Sites Appendix B. Obsolete Appendix (was: Free Version Control Systems) Appendix C. Obsolete Appendix (was: Free Bug Trackers) Appendix D. Obsolete Appendix: (was: Why Should I Care What Color the Bikeshed Is?) Appendix E. Obsolete Appendix (was: Example Instructions for Reporting Bugs) Appendix F. Copyright