How open collaboration develops open source software

Open-source software (OSS) is computer software whose source code is publicly available, allowing users to use, study, modify, and distribute it. Its roots lie in source code sharing dating back to the origins of computing in the 1950s, and the term was formalized in 1998 with the founding of the Open Source Initiative.

1 article, 1 video, 1 book · about 50 min of reading and viewing

The reading path

1. Read
   

   open source software · Wikipedia · 43 min read

   In his 1997 essay The Cathedral and the Bazaar, open-source influential contributor Eric S. Raymond suggests a model for developing OSS known as the bazaar model. Raymond likens software development by traditional methodologies to building a cathedral, with careful isolated work by individuals or small groups. Open-source software projects can be supported without coding skills through documentation, translation, project management, event organization, marketing, and community management, contributing to development based on open collaboration, a decentralized model of production. In open-source software development, version control systems, often open source, manage source code files and changes to foster collaboration. CVCS use a central repository, while DVCS give every user a local repository.

2. Watch
   

   Where's the Money in Free Software? - Computerphile · YouTube · 7 min watch

   Matt Lee explains the question of where the money in free software comes from when the software code is released and available. The video distinguishes free as in freedom from free as in cost.

3. Book
   

   The Cathedral and the Bazaar · Bookshop.org

   The Cathedral and the Bazaar by Eric S. Raymond examines the struggle between top-down and bottom-up design by contrasting restricted development between releases with code developed publicly over the Internet. Raymond argues that wider public access for testing, scrutiny, and experimentation helps bugs be discovered more rapidly.

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