Former MS Employees Explore OSS

Roberto Andressi writes "A few former Microsoft employees have launched a Web site that evaluates open-source projects. The site is intended as a way for first-time OSS users to 'get their feet wet' before diving into the large community of open source projects out there. The site, Ohloh, will provide background information on a prospective project. The folks behind the site even plan to include a lexicon of terms for very new users. " From the article: "'We collect from the infrastructure the open-source community uses to develop the software,' Ohloh co-founder and CEO Scott Collison told CNET News.com. 'It also serves as an open-source directory. You can find open-source projects and compare them, and gradually find one that's right for you.' The site could appeal to developers who are frustrated by the number of open-source projects that lack clear explanations. Ohloh also seeks to help developers make a build vs. buy decision by offering code analysis, said Collison, who along with co-founder Jason Allen, previously worked at Microsoft."

Comments

Why link to ZDNET Asia?

[assantisz]

This link is much faster (that is if you are in the USA, of course): Web site that evaluates open-source projects.

Re:Why link to ZDNET Asia?

[ozbird]

The big problem with a lot of OSS project sites is the lack of basic information about what the software even *IS*.

Hence sites like freshmeat.net - my first port of call if I know the kind of application I want, but not which one (or even what the available options are.)

Maybe I'm getting cynical, this has the distinct smell of astroturf. How "Ohloh" can you go?

Re:As Ackbar would say:

[badfish99]

It's very slow, but I have managed to look at a couple of pages on the site.

There's a line or so of information about each project (e.g. for Apache Ant it says "Apache Ant is a Java-based build tool", which is not very helpful). And then there's an estimate of the total cost of the project, based on an estimate of the number of man-years that have gone into the code, costed at $55k per man-year.

WTF is that all about? Are these people perhaps trying to suggest that open-source software is valuable, and that its developers should charge for it?

Re:Free Software Descriptions

[Anonymous Coward]

There's a pretty good source of popular free software application descriptions on Saugus.net's Computer Knowledgebase.

Freshmeat

[ozmanjusri]

It's hard to tell since their server's cactus, but it looks like it's imitating http://freshmeat.net/ (Disclaimer: another part of the nefarious OSTG network). Freshmeat is;

• "searchable by project name or keyword, results in a list of suggested software."
• "has a profile, beginning with a brief synopsis of what the software does."
• "lists the licenses held for the open-source project, as well as a link to the full text of each license."
• "offers information such as when the project was started, how many developers are actively working on it"
• "the languages it uses"
• "links to the project's home page"
• "a breakdown of current activities"
• etc

and has done for donkey's years. These guys have learned MS techniques well...