Intro to Free Open Source Software (FOSS)
The beginning of FOSS, and why it’s important in todays world of development.
The FOSS that we chose to become contributors to is called openMRS, which is an open source platform for providing health care to third world countries and other remote regions of the world. After downloading the IRC, which in this case is Telegram, we were able to connect with the other members of the project. The members were very welcoming and willing to help us in getting started with development. The application uses Java and Maven for development, the latter of which we have no experience with, but are excited to learn how to use. The other members were helpful in getting us started with Maven. Overall we are very excited to be working on this project.
The reading 'The Cathedral and the Bazaar' is a very interesting and unique perspective on how developers view software development. In this case, the author talks about the development of Linux, and how it essentially broke the traditional constraints of software development described by the Author Eric Raymond as "need[ing] to be built like cathedrals, carefully crafted by individual wizards or small bands of mages working in splendid isolation, with no beta to be released before its time." What I think the author means is that developers would build software without consulting any of their users, and just push applications and updates based solely on their own visions.
The development of linux, on the other hand, was quite the opposite. For one, updates were pushed early and often. Software should be ever-changing based on users' needs, and not be solidified a certain way. This is what I believe makes software more versatile and usable. Secondly, the development of linux was highly delegated. The use of open source allows for development at an unlimited scale, and having a team without limits in size can be crucial to the growth and development of the software at a fast enough pace. Thirdly, "be open to the point of promiscuity." Taking feedback from users is one of the most important aspects of software development. How else can you ensure that your users' needs are truly being met? Are there components that need improvement; or are there parts that need to be cut out altogether?
These are the aspects of Open source software that give it an edge over proprietary software, and how the development of FOSS involves allowing as many people as possible working together to build the best version of the software as possible.
