Producing Open Source Software: How to Run a Successful Free Software Project (Paperback)

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Key Phrases: managing volunteers, daily development, handling growth, Technical Infrastructure, Free Software Foundation, General Public License (more...)

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Product Description

The corporate market is now embracing free, "open source" software like never before, as evidenced by the recent success of the technologies underlying LAMP (Linux, Apache, MySQL, and PHP). Each is the result of a publicly collaborative process among numerous developers who volunteer their time and energy to create better software.

The truth is, however, that the overwhelming majority of free software projects fail. To help you beat the odds, O'Reilly has put together "Producing Open Source Software," a guide that recommends tried and true steps to help free software developers work together toward a common goal. Not just for developers who are considering starting their own free software project, this book will also help those who want to participate in the process at any level.

The book tackles this very complex topic by distilling it down into easily understandable parts. Starting with the basics of project management, it details specific tools used in free software projects, including version control, IRC, bug tracking, and Wikis. Author Karl Fogel, known for his work on CVS and Subversion, offers practical advice on how to set up and use a range of tools in combination with open mailing lists and archives. He also provides several chapters on the essentials of recruiting and motivating developers, as well as how to gain much-needed publicity for your project.

While managing a team of enthusiastic developers -- most of whom you've never even met -- can be challenging, it can also be fun. "Producing Open Source Software" takes this into account, too, as it speaks of the sheer pleasure to be had from working with a motivated team of free software developers.

About the Author

In 1995, Karl Fogel co-founded Cyclic Software, a company offering commercial CVS support. In 1999 he added support for CVS anonymous read-only repository access, inaugurating a new standard for access to development sources in open source projects. That same year, he wrote "Open Source Development With CVS" (published by Coriolis), now in its third edition via Paraglyph Press. Since early 2000, he has worked for CollabNet, Inc, managing the creation and development of Subversion, a version control system written from scratch by CollabNet and a team of open source volunteers, and meant to replace CVS as the de facto standard among open source projects. He also participates in various other open source projects as a module maintainer, patch contributor, and documentation writer.

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Product Details Paperback: 302 pages Publisher: O'Reilly Media, Inc. (October 7, 2005) Language: English ISBN-10: 0596007590 ISBN-13: 978-0596007591 Product Dimensions: 9.1 x 7 x 0.8 inches Shipping Weight: 1.1 pounds (View shipping rates and policies) Average Customer Review: 4.7 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (15 customer reviews) Amazon.com Sales Rank: #51,698 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books) Popular in these categories: (What's this?) #35 in  Books > Computers & Internet > Operating Systems > Linux #37 in  Books > Computers & Internet > Operating Systems > Unix

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Front Cover | Table of Contents | First Pages | Index | Back Cover | Surprise Me!

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Inside This Book (learn more)

Key Phrases - Statistically Improbable Phrases (SIPs): (learn more)
managing volunteers, daily development, handling growth, license compatibility, release numbering, difficult people, commit access, new committers, reproduction recipe, commit emails, bug tracker, translation manager, version control repository, micro number, free software projects, release branch, list management software, issue tracker, address hiding, volunteer developers, development mailing list, invalid issues, mailing list software, developer guidelines, version control system

Key Phrases - Capitalized Phrases (CAPs): (learn more)
Technical Infrastructure, Free Software Foundation, General Public License, Getting Started, Share Management Tasks, Getting the Most Out of Volunteers, Technical Tasks, University of California, The Open Source Initiative, Window System, Apache Software Foundation, Setting the Tone, Benevolent Dictators, Avoiding Common Pitfalls, Consensus-Based Democracy, Writing It All Down, Avoid Holy Wars, Nip Rudeness, Editorial Board, Real-Time Chat Systems, Security Releases, Patch Manager, Developer Documentation, Announce List

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Front Cover | Table of Contents | First Pages | Index | Back Cover | Surprise Me!

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What Do Customers Ultimately Buy After Viewing This Item?

	78% buy the item featured on this page: Producing Open Source Software: How to Run a Successful Free Software Project 4.7 out of 5 stars (15) $16.47
	8% buy Intellectual Property and Open Source: A Practical Guide to Protecting Code 4.6 out of 5 stars (14) $29.94
	5% buy Understanding Open Source and Free Software Licensing 4.2 out of 5 stars (12) $19.79
	5% buy The Success of Open Source 4.9 out of 5 stars (10) $17.55

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Customer Reviews

15 Reviews 5 star:  (12) 4 star:  (2) 3 star:  (1) 2 star:    (0) 1 star:    (0)           Average Customer Review 4.7 out of 5 stars (15 customer reviews)		Share your thoughts with other customers:
Most Helpful Customer Reviews 19 of 19 people found the following review helpful: 5.0 out of 5 stars Great for getting off on the right foot..., November 8, 2005 By  Thomas Duff "Duffbert" (Portland, OR United States) - See all my reviews (TOP 50 REVIEWER)    (REAL NAME)       Seems like everyone wants to have a open source project these days. But it's not as easy to run a successful project as you might think. In order to get started on the right foot and increase your chance of success, I would recommend reading Karl Fogel's Producing Open Source Software - How To Run A Successful Free Software Project. Contents: Introduction; Getting Started; Technical Infrastructure; Social and Political Infrastructure; Money; Communications; Packaging, Releasing, and Daily Development; Managing Volunteers; Licenses, Copyrights, and Patents; Free Version Control Systems; Free Bug Trackers; Why Should I Care What Color the Bikeshed Is?; Example Instructions for Reporting Bugs; Index Fogel definitely has the "cred" to write this book. He's spent five years working on the Subversion open source version control system. While not (yet?) the default open source version control system out there, it's rapidly gaining traction. As a result, you figure that Fogel and company must have done a few things right along the way. He does a very nice job in explaining what makes for a successful open source project in terms of tools, structure, and most importantly, culture. He identifies open source projects that have successfully created a culture that encourages participation without dictatorial control. He even addresses how to deal with people issues like monopolizing discussion boards. Those are items that most techies aren't good at, and having a guide like this is priceless. At times the book seems to be rather dense, as in a lot of text with little to break it up. I think it's because there's no real use of graphics or code samples to a large degree. I wouldn't expect it in a book like this, either. But still, it's just one of those things that came to mind as I was reading it. If you have the same nagging feeling and can quickly identify it, then it's easy to deal with the problem. Very valuable information, all condensed into a single volume for easy reference. I'd maintain that anyone looking to start an open source project with hopes of long-term viability would do well to read and digest this book before starting. You'll make fewer false starts and raise your chances of success... 11 of 11 people found the following review helpful: 5.0 out of 5 stars Excellent guide for anyone interested in contributing to or running an open source project, November 3, 2005 By  Andrew Stellman "author, project manager, pro... (Brooklyn, NY) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)    Karl Fogel does a fantastic job of covering everything you need to know about open source projects. It contains everything you need to know about contributing to an open source projects: how to interact with other contributors, working with version control, contributing code, etc. He also provides an excellent guide for running an open source project. The book covers a great deal of ground, giving excellent advice on a wide range of topics: selecting a license; maintaining a mailing list, defect tracking system and version control repository; providing a website; interacting with committers; dealing with technical people; gathering consensus; and understanding important project management concepts. Karl is a veteran of several highly visible and widely used open source projects, and clearly draws on his extensive experiences (both positive and negative). The style is pleasantly conversational, and it's clear that he really knows what he's talking about and is speaking from a position of authority. (Full Disclosure: I was a technical reviewer for this book, and was thoroughly impressed with it while reviewing it.) 10 of 10 people found the following review helpful: 5.0 out of 5 stars Tons of insight and practical advice, January 23, 2006 By  Eric Jain (Seattle, WA USA) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)    Didn't expect much useful information. But somehow this guy manages to talk about soft issues such as communication and politics without getting lost in the clouds. The book is more of a field guide than an anthropological study, so instead of speculation about what keeps participants motivated, you'll find practical advice how to keep people motivated and how to deal with specific problems. Should be read not only by people running open source projects, but by anyone who is somehow involved in an open source projects, and perhaps by everyone doing software development, too!		Ad feedback   Most Recent Customer Reviews 5.0 out of 5 stars A developer's perspective that works for both developers and managers Karl Fogel has the right credentials for the subject of producing open source software. His technical background and entrepreneurial experience help provide informed insight... Read more Published 7 months ago by Michael Tiemann 3.0 out of 5 stars Good! This book is really good for those who want to make their projects open source, or just want to know how to deal with their already done project. Read more Published 9 months ago by Felipe F. Tonello 5.0 out of 5 stars Excellent logistical guide for any software project Issues specific to Open Source are well-covered in this book. I found the section titled "Handling Difficult People" especially useful; his advice in this dodgy area is to act... Read more Published 17 months ago by Adam Monsen 5.0 out of 5 stars Step-by-Step for a Open-Source Project Manager If you are thinking of starting/managing a project in an "open-source" model, this is the book you MUST read. Read more Published 22 months ago by Filipe Pinto 5.0 out of 5 stars In my case, five stars is an understatement Just yesterday I was talking to a friend about this book and we discovered each other very glad with it. Read more Published on July 26, 2007 by Lucas N. Santos 5.0 out of 5 stars Required reading for Open Source project leaders If you have already read pretty much everything that there is to be read about why you'd want to start, manage, fund or participate in an Open Source project, but want to know... Read more Published on June 18, 2007 by Ugo Cei 5.0 out of 5 stars "Must Read" for Open Source Participants It's easy to make the mistake of viewing this book as "too fluffy" or perhaps too soft to be of any use to the practical user or developer of open source software. Read more Published on April 28, 2007 by Gordon Rios 5.0 out of 5 stars Gives you a feel for the why, not just the how The book impressed me by the breadth and depth of the thinking that must have gone on before it was written. Mr. Read more Published on December 27, 2006 by Peter Arrenbrecht 4.0 out of 5 stars sound advice for an oss project sound advice for an oss project please note that the entire text of this book is avaiable online - but the paper book is ofcourse nicer to read! Published on August 3, 2006 by A. Wallin 4.0 out of 5 stars Open Source Software > How To Get From B to E Producing open source software is not an easy task. Without the management and insight of a team of developers or the money that can go along with getting software out the door,... Read more Published on April 12, 2006 by Daniel McKinnon Search Customer Reviews Only search this product's reviews

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Product Details

• Paperback: 302 pages
• Publisher: O'Reilly Media, Inc. (October 7, 2005)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0596007590
• ISBN-13: 978-0596007591
• Product Dimensions: 9.1 x 7 x 0.8 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.1 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.7 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (15 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #51,698 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

  Popular in these categories: (What's this?)

  #35 in	Books > Computers & Internet > Operating Systems > Linux
  #37 in	Books > Computers & Internet > Operating Systems > Unix

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

19 of 19 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Great for getting off on the right foot..., November 8, 2005

By	Thomas Duff "Duffbert" (Portland, OR United States) - See all my reviews (TOP 50 REVIEWER)    (REAL NAME)

Seems like everyone wants to have a open source project these days. But it's not as easy to run a successful project as you might think. In order to get started on the right foot and increase your chance of success, I would recommend reading Karl Fogel's Producing Open Source Software - How To Run A Successful Free Software Project.

Contents: Introduction; Getting Started; Technical Infrastructure; Social and Political Infrastructure; Money; Communications; Packaging, Releasing, and Daily Development; Managing Volunteers; Licenses, Copyrights, and Patents; Free Version Control Systems; Free Bug Trackers; Why Should I Care What Color the Bikeshed Is?; Example Instructions for Reporting Bugs; Index

Fogel definitely has the "cred" to write this book. He's spent five years working on the Subversion open source version control system. While not (yet?) the default open source version control system out there, it's rapidly gaining traction. As a result, you figure that Fogel and company must have done a few things right along the way. He does a very nice job in explaining what makes for a successful open source project in terms of tools, structure, and most importantly, culture. He identifies open source projects that have successfully created a culture that encourages participation without dictatorial control. He even addresses how to deal with people issues like monopolizing discussion boards. Those are items that most techies aren't good at, and having a guide like this is priceless.

At times the book seems to be rather dense, as in a lot of text with little to break it up. I think it's because there's no real use of graphics or code samples to a large degree. I wouldn't expect it in a book like this, either. But still, it's just one of those things that came to mind as I was reading it. If you have the same nagging feeling and can quickly identify it, then it's easy to deal with the problem.

Very valuable information, all condensed into a single volume for easy reference. I'd maintain that anyone looking to start an open source project with hopes of long-term viability would do well to read and digest this book before starting. You'll make fewer false starts and raise your chances of success...

11 of 11 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Excellent guide for anyone interested in contributing to or running an open source project, November 3, 2005

By	Andrew Stellman "author, project manager, pro... (Brooklyn, NY) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

Karl Fogel does a fantastic job of covering everything you need to know about open source projects. It contains everything you need to know about contributing to an open source projects: how to interact with other contributors, working with version control, contributing code, etc. He also provides an excellent guide for running an open source project. The book covers a great deal of ground, giving excellent advice on a wide range of topics: selecting a license; maintaining a mailing list, defect tracking system and version control repository; providing a website; interacting with committers; dealing with technical people; gathering consensus; and understanding important project management concepts. Karl is a veteran of several highly visible and widely used open source projects, and clearly draws on his extensive experiences (both positive and negative). The style is pleasantly conversational, and it's clear that he really knows what he's talking about and is speaking from a position of authority.

(Full Disclosure: I was a technical reviewer for this book, and was thoroughly impressed with it while reviewing it.)

10 of 10 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Tons of insight and practical advice, January 23, 2006

By	Eric Jain (Seattle, WA USA) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

Didn't expect much useful information. But somehow this guy manages to talk about soft issues such as communication and politics without getting lost in the clouds. The book is more of a field guide than an anthropological study, so instead of speculation about what keeps participants motivated, you'll find practical advice how to keep people motivated and how to deal with specific problems. Should be read not only by people running open source projects, but by anyone who is somehow involved in an open source projects, and perhaps by everyone doing software development, too!