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Open Source Course for Managers?

Posted by Cliff on from the can't-wait-to-see-the-course-outline dept.

faqmaster asks: "I teach systems analysis and design as part of programming and project management tracks at a community college, and I'm interested in putting together a course for project-managers on open-source software. What suggestions would the Slashdot community have as far as what managers need to know/understand about Open Source? What books would you suggest? Anyone have any especially good case studies of successful OSS implementations in the business world? Any insight as to how project managers and the like can successfully incorporate open-source into thier projects? What advantages might they see? What are the pitfalls?"

2 of 97 comments (clear)

  1. What companies need for open source by Chardish · · Score: 4, Insightful

    Comments in the source-code are the most crucial thing for any serious company looking into open-source...if they want to customize their software they need to be able to understand it.

    -Chardish

  2. OSS in The Real World by ixo111 · · Score: 5, Insightful

    Assuming you are up against the "free" prejudice (nothing good is free), one of main points of emphasis would probably be the quick release / report / revise cycle that a successful, widely used OSS product enjoys. Major (or minor) flaws are quickly discovered that might not appear during even a rigorous bug-hunt by the developers. Given that OSS makes the source available, any customization needs can be handled in-house if necessary - flexibility is the key .. would you rather wait for a corporate entity to raise itself from the rust to release a patch or a new revision, or adopt an OSS product for use that allows you as granular a control as you need? Without any overriding reason to use a non-OSS product, the choice would seem obvious, all other things being equal.