Watch Open Source Development in Real Time

Mohammed Al-Sahaf writes "If you use FreeNode, be sure to check out #commits, where they have a bot watching the CVS/Subversion repositories of a number of major Open Source projects (including GNOME, KDE and Python). Its fascinating to be able to watch development as it occurs all over the Open Source world. If you have a project of your own that uses CVS, you can add yourself to the bot. Also, the stats page makes interesting viewing!"

Comments

GNOME

[semaj]

I know GNOME's in that list, but it's worth noting that as of today commits to the GNOME CVS server are output in #commits on GIMPnet.

#commits on irc.gnome.org

wait! there's more!

[Anonymous Coward]

How about an RSS feed? A robotic voice that reads commits out loud on streaming audio? A dial-up BBS that gives you the latest commits when you call up? A public wifi hotspot that broadcasts commits on port 2314, twenty-four hours a frickin' day! Wait, how about some kind of GIGANTIC SCROLLING BANNER with a WEBCAM pointed at it! YES!!!

Almost

[RealityMogul]

Gee, I can just imagine all the fun of sitting around the computer with a bag of popcorn watching notifications popup on your screen that Dave checked in ntwrk_utl_32x-efi-f--e.cpp at 23:45.

Watch out you big media corporations with your lame reality shows, there's a new game in town!

Geesh...

[FroMan]

Seems like most of the comments here are pretty derogatory.

I think this sounds pretty cool. I checked out the site that was linked and thought it was pretty cool. Sure, its not Buffy or whatever crap people watch on TV all the time, but its a pretty cool hack.

I personally think its neat to be able to look up stats like that.

Another fun stat to look at is on gentoo.org. You can see some of their bugzilla stats, like how many bugs and of what type.

Why this is cool

[IamTheRealMike]

OK. So this is cool because:

1) It means you can be impressed (and impress others, if they are that way inclined) with the pace and volume of open source development.

2) There are 100 people in the channel from all kinds of projects, ranging from GNOME to bzFlag, all chilling out (there will soon be a #commits-only for those who for whatever reason don't like the chatter).

3) It's a neat hack that took about 2 hours to do, and took off in a big way.

For all you people saying "that's so pointless" you don't get it, it's not meant to be an informational resource. It's not even meant to be useful. It's just meant to be cool :)

(i helped set it up though so i would say that)

Re:Why this is cool

[JukkaO]

1) It means you can be impressed (and impress others, if they are that way inclined) with the pace and volume of open source development.

Pace and volume indeed :) 20 minutes and not a single commit. With the amount of projects the bot tracks, how long should I statistically need to wait until I see a commit?

I'm guessing the activity may also come in bursts due to timezone things and such, just want to try it out anyway. :)

Re:Why this is cool

[Tukla]

Nah. It's not cool until the commits automatically download themselves to my PC and recompile the affected software in the background. I want my software updated at random intervals to the most bleeding-edge version possible! Mwah-ha-ha-hahaha!

Next web projects

[crmartin]

Paint Drying Web Cam
GrassGrowing.com
SausageBeingMade.org
CSPAN

stats page

[Khopesh]

i don't see use in realtime irc reporting, but the stats page is interesting.
i only wish it were more informative;
quantity would be better served by icons or even colors;
the more active are brighter and the less active duller.
i would like to see "average day in past week/month/year" as a ratio comparing to total,
so for example the entry for week could read "19:133"
meaning there were 19 commits in the average day last week.
this would better show changes in activity.

Never!

[Heabdogg]

Can we believe a post from the Iraqi Info Minister?

"There are no Bots in in IRC. Never!"