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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."
Treat your employees well. They will still be around for a long time after they leave your company (unless, of course, your company is the mafia)
Your ad could be here!
The lack of documentation on OSS projects is bad enough without having to spend an hour just trying to figure out what the software even DOES.
-Eric
SJW: Someone who has run out of real oppression, and has to fake it.
I'm most excited about a central place that does code reveiw of open-source projects. That's really a tedious process when you're wading around in sourceforge trying to find a shared lib for your project. Usually you can tell by the level of polish applied to the project's website how organized the code will be, but I'm certain some well-engineered software gets passed over if this is your only criteria for quality. Someone designing an open-source product shouldn't need to design a flashy website to promote it.
If there were a comprehensive site I could visit that had evaluated (albeit briefly) some of these packages, that could be a big time-saver.
You drank my drink, you drunk!
It's ironic (considering this new site) that Microsoft has plenty to say about what their software is but lack in useful documentation. It's literally the opposite of OSS. Microsoft provides pleny of marketing to make sure everyone knows what they offer, yet for the technical they offer little help.
Developers: We can use your help.
I think that tinfoil hat is quite shiny enough.
Why should they? What's the incentive? All most developers want to do is develope software and *if* it helps someone else, great, take a copy. It's not like they make more $$ for every customer who runs it. In fact, there's a big *disincentive* to inviting the clueless in - then the devs have to spend more time answering annoying newbie FAQ's over and over, troubleshoot their installation problems, etc. If the FOSS world, the more clueful users the better; the more clueless the worse. Ergo, if you don't know what it is, you probably don't want it. FOSS: you've got to *want* it - there are no marketeers out there trying to hunt down customers, ship them product and debit their account.
try { do() || do_not(); } catch (JediException err) { yoda(err); }