I saw a demo of ZOPE and it allows this sort of collaboration and control. It is not as easy as a wiki but it does have what you need. Might be worth a look.
I am pretty much in your position in my company. So I do it myself. I use CVS because it is as common as mud and I think the next best source control is not there yet, but pick your own tool for the job.
I run production as a working set (a check out). When people copy in 'their version' of code into the working set then it is an update and I can see the changes that they have made (and undone other work).
I have my own working set on my computer, I make my changes and test, commit to the repository. I then go to production and do a diff and check what others have been doing (It is surprising how often then do not tell you...). I accept the changes by committing to my repository adding a comment on who I think did the change and what it did or reject them by writing a note outlining what has changed and why I think it is wrong, if it is a little wrong often I patch and then commit without comment. I then update my personal working set and retest then commit again.
All of this tracking information is incredibly handy. When the investigation starts on the next major problem just diff your production working set for changes, document what has changed and how it broke. Questions will eventually be asked about how you know what is going wrong so quickly and people will move to working with you.
There will always be one person who is invaluable for the company that will stand outside the general practice. Just manage them in the same manner as best you can.
You have you bug tracking software, just keep using it eventually people will see the benifit of it, if they do not then at least you will know what is going on and be more in touch. Eventually good practice wins out.
Stack protection really is the next big step and like ports from WIndows typically the difficulties is broken code that is just allowed. Stack protection is going to cost developers dearly and it is likely that it will be disabled if there is an option rather than paying the cost on the very software that needs it the most.
I have used valgrind on production code that has been working 8 years. I found multiple protections, uninitialised variables in this code. Anyone coding C and not using valgrind in the testing cycle is not using their head.
I switched to Perl because there were no memory allocation problems like this.
Management said that it would happen shorter than my estimate it was right. Old hand said to do it a faster way which was not perfect, but I ignored him. Just do it (JFDI).
Arrogance in a programmer is a good thing but to NOT underestimate 20 years of experience and dismiss it, listen and learn. Learn to temper the arrogance, 'I can fix your server because I read a couple of books on the weekend'. I would run away scared to.
I worked for a company that called me a gun.net programmer with no real business experience.
Startups are great experience, they push you in ways you never thought possible. You may be a star programmer or you may be truly bad and should be pumping gas at a service station.
I think you 50/50 split on these sorts of tools are totally fictious. The only way that this might be true is that 50% of the PURCHASED copies. photoshop is possibly one of the most widely pirated programs after word 4 windows.
When I do analysis I add comments to code as I understand what parts do. If I have spent the time to figure it out, even if I do not need to change the code then my time is valuable and it is worth leaving breadcrumbs for the world to follow later.
This is the best article on comments I have seen. Not a perscription just a collection of techniques.
The reason I use and recommend perl over other languages is the useful INDEXED source of common modules called cpan.
This single resource has saved me many hours of programming alone. More than pays for some of the obscure problems. Frankly it is up to the programmer to write good code, not the programming language. I can show you horrible code in about 20 different languages from Cobol to C to Java to Perl. Learn how to write and comment clearly and any language is a good language.
In a company that will not install the GCC compiler and give us a single system to compile our C code on a licensed compiler, every system has openssh and sudo installed.
I use Open Source software because it is good. valgrind on my C code has found so many potential problems in code. I use Linux and gcc because I cannot afford the $1,000 minimum I was spending on proprietary tools at home just to play with technology for my career development.
I envy the beginning programmers today. They can have a full professional system for the cost of the hardware only. They can work on professional software and really contribute then establish their careers without going through what I had to go through to get my first programmers role, 90% hardwork but 10% miracle.
The concept of taking an order and then figuring out the address has been common in business practices for years. It is called get the cash then figure out how to meet the delivery. I ring them to get working on a major order, I then call back to confirm delivery instructions. I do this with hardware, or computer gear, or flowers. Flowers are typically a gift, so that would cover the prior art idea.
Most computer systems have the ability to modify the delivery address after the original input. Wouldn't this be prior art?
a) Average student mostly does homework, wont be a star performer. Average.
b) Underperformer. MUst be forced to do any homework, proably counter productive because it reinforces hatred of school which is not cyclic.
c) Overperformer. Gets homework does it in two seconds flat. Explain why he really needs to do this homework, he knows it already.
With my second child (control environment same basic genetics, same income group and same parents) it is sheer hell getting the homework done. This is definitely 90% of the stress in our marriage. It really is personality driven.
So is there a solution, I really think that homework for the second child is a waste. If as poinjted out the teacher engages significantly (he loves Japanese) then it is not an issue. All other lessons don't get done.
This child has had a poor start because of some really awful teachers and some really poor attempts to correct for those awful early teachers (who all gave copious homework). When they 'required' us to drug our child with ritalin then we pulled him out and changed schools. With the change in schools we found out about the macquarie university intensive reading program pause prompt praise and a lot of the problems disolved.
Homework. I could kill my children at times, homework = stress for the parent is TRUE.
Homework that engages. Sometime this is up to the parent. I was good at school and my wife was not. If we were both in the same boat how could we deal with the physics and maths questions and effectively help our children? Social economic status = homework effective is TRUE.
I teach university. Drill that teaches students is useless in real life except if you work in a controlled factory. If this is your life goal then fine but in order to excel then you need to understand parameters and apply them to any project. It was not unusual to get students that would fail theory and pass the practical and vice versa. THere were those that would pass both. If I had a choice of passing theory (rote learning) and practical (application) guess which person I would pick anyday. Drills are good up to a point, when you are pasted drills how do you engage your students. Homeowkr you loose this, you had better be a good teacher.
Based on my own studies with my family. I can definitely say that the study is correct.
All volunteers that want to learn are welcome. If you would like to review the latest OOo documentation on OOo authors then that would meet the criteria without a problem.
I would actually like to cativate more documentors than programmers. This is where we can really excel.
There are a number of reasons that people are not employed. It took me 7 years to get my first serious computer job. I had the skills but no business application. FOSS now gives you this, want a reference from an experienced programmer, work with me and I can give you one.
If you are over 40 and out of work then there is a 'young industry' problem. People who are that old are obviously not useful, let's hire a young grad they are cheaper. You will take the same? Why you are more qualified than that, must be something wrong with you.
Employment is not always as balck and white as people paint it.
Note I am fully employed and have been for 20 years. I am just fully aware of the situation for other people. I am also aware that I am 40 and this is a glass ceiling for our industry.
This is a mutual obligation where you volunteer to help the community.
We are also mentors to get others started on FOSS development.
Work for the dole is complicated to set up and requires to much paperwork to be effective. We would also be assign all sorts of people. We only work with people who volunteer to work with us.
The Mutual obligation component is only a minor requirement and I AM NOT GOING AWAY!
I am looking towards assisting motivated people working on FOSS. If you think we we tolerate time wasters you are wrong, we are volunteers and we can simply stop providing the Mutual Obligation sign off for the slackers. It is mainly for FOSS developers who would like their time on FOSS acknowledged as mutual obligation under the AU goverment rules.
If you are fully employed and want help starting. We will help you.
If you would like more people involved in your project. Offer to be a mentor. We are actively canvassing not worker bees but the queen bees who will help all the worker bees. We need your help!
What I gain out of this is a better system. If I activate 10 programmers 1/2 as good as me that is 5 me's working on my favourite systems. This is FOSS at it's finest, enable the masses to work on it.
If there are people who are hardware challenged who need help with hardware we can suggest how to gain access to hardware. You do not need the latest and greatest hardware to contribute. A P100 may be slow but it will work. Programmers with time limits and a pay check may not bother but if you are motivated then you can do amazing things. Who is better to optimise a system someone with a dual 3gig machine or a single P100 at home? Who is more motivated to fix that performance problem.
Don't think just because you would not work that way that 100's of other do not. I used to take 3 days to compile OpenOffice.org because it was the hardware that I had P350 minum ram. Did I give up?
Get involved.
Activate 100s of new programmers.
Bring new people to FOSS that would not normally consider it.
Get that port of application X to Windows because you have activated a different sort of hackker. Even port applications to new compilers because they have them.
I am not going away and this is supported by Linux all over Australia. We have had and encourage world wide participation. We need mentors.
The point I made in my talk was that you HAVE TO find a specific part of OOo and carve out your niche. Trying to understand the whole thing is an impossible task as you say.
If you cannot run it through indent to format the code to your standard if you absolutely cannot read the particular brace style then you are newbie.
If you mix brace styles in the one source file or break a standard on a project THEN you are newbie.
I will stick to K&R formatting, I find your style irritating as you find my style. I get doubly irritated when people pointlessly reformat my code to make a 1 line change. Ever tried to QA that code and figure out what the real change is.
Slashdot Mirror
I saw a demo of ZOPE and it allows this sort of collaboration and control. It is not as easy as a wiki but it does have what you need. Might be worth a look.
I am pretty much in your position in my company. So I do it myself. I use CVS because it is as common as mud and I think the next best source control is not there yet, but pick your own tool for the job.
I run production as a working set (a check out). When people copy in 'their version' of code into the working set then it is an update and I can see the changes that they have made (and undone other work).
I have my own working set on my computer, I make my changes and test, commit to the repository. I then go to production and do a diff and check what others have been doing (It is surprising how often then do not tell you...). I accept the changes by committing to my repository adding a comment on who I think did the change and what it did or reject them by writing a note outlining what has changed and why I think it is wrong, if it is a little wrong often I patch and then commit without comment. I then update my personal working set and retest then commit again.
All of this tracking information is incredibly handy. When the investigation starts on the next major problem just diff your production working set for changes, document what has changed and how it broke. Questions will eventually be asked about how you know what is going wrong so quickly and people will move to working with you.
There will always be one person who is invaluable for the company that will stand outside the general practice. Just manage them in the same manner as best you can.
You have you bug tracking software, just keep using it eventually people will see the benifit of it, if they do not then at least you will know what is going on and be more in touch. Eventually good practice wins out.
replace a stupid name with a sensible name:
messages_processed++;
This actually makes sense without the comment.
DOes that mean that I have to accept the crap that some people put forward as code.
Standards should at least set a minimum. meaningful comments, code that is structured, etc.
MOst good programmers think this is common sense, well it is.
Stack protection really is the next big step and like ports from WIndows typically the difficulties is broken code that is just allowed. Stack protection is going to cost developers dearly and it is likely that it will be disabled if there is an option rather than paying the cost on the very software that needs it the most.
I have used valgrind on production code that has been working 8 years. I found multiple protections, uninitialised variables in this code. Anyone coding C and not using valgrind in the testing cycle is not using their head.
I switched to Perl because there were no memory allocation problems like this.
Let's see what was said.
.net programmer with no real business experience.
Management said that it would happen shorter than my estimate it was right. Old hand said to do it a faster way which was not perfect, but I ignored him. Just do it (JFDI).
Arrogance in a programmer is a good thing but to NOT underestimate 20 years of experience and dismiss it, listen and learn. Learn to temper the arrogance, 'I can fix your server because I read a couple of books on the weekend'. I would run away scared to.
I worked for a company that called me a gun
Startups are great experience, they push you in ways you never thought possible. You may be a star programmer or you may be truly bad and should be pumping gas at a service station.
I think you 50/50 split on these sorts of tools are totally fictious. The only way that this might be true is that 50% of the PURCHASED copies. photoshop is possibly one of the most widely pirated programs after word 4 windows.
People will naturally resist change.
One solution I really liked was linking Linux with a new PC. You want a fast LCD convert to Linux. This forced user buy in. Very clever.
Exactly why we banned guns in Australia.
Some of the problems in America could not happen in Australia as a result. (Oops probably a flamewar in the making)
The reviewer appears to be showing bias, this may or may not be a reflection of the book itself.
The book based on descriptions sounds like an interesting read, know the other arguments.
You could start by changing your web page:
This is htop, an interactive process viewer for Linux.
Huh, nothing deeper than that.
What are you trying to solve with this tool and why should I use it. Give me a better sales blurb.
When I do analysis I add comments to code as I understand what parts do. If I have spent the time to figure it out, even if I do not need to change the code then my time is valuable and it is worth leaving breadcrumbs for the world to follow later.
This is the best article on comments I have seen. Not a perscription just a collection of techniques.
I am wondering how this helps over freshmeat's rating system?
I personally use the slug.org.au rating system, ask at the next meeting how to do something and listen to the responses.
The reason I use and recommend perl over other languages is the useful INDEXED source of common modules called cpan.
This single resource has saved me many hours of programming alone. More than pays for some of the obscure problems. Frankly it is up to the programmer to write good code, not the programming language. I can show you horrible code in about 20 different languages from Cobol to C to Java to Perl. Learn how to write and comment clearly and any language is a good language.
In a company that will not install the GCC compiler and give us a single system to compile our C code on a licensed compiler, every system has openssh and sudo installed.
I use Open Source software because it is good. valgrind on my C code has found so many potential problems in code. I use Linux and gcc because I cannot afford the $1,000 minimum I was spending on proprietary tools at home just to play with technology for my career development.
I envy the beginning programmers today. They can have a full professional system for the cost of the hardware only. They can work on professional software and really contribute then establish their careers without going through what I had to go through to get my first programmers role, 90% hardwork but 10% miracle.
Statistics
The concept of taking an order and then figuring out the address has been common in business practices for years. It is called get the cash then figure out how to meet the delivery. I ring them to get working on a major order, I then call back to confirm delivery instructions. I do this with hardware, or computer gear, or flowers. Flowers are typically a gift, so that would cover the prior art idea.
Most computer systems have the ability to modify the delivery address after the original input. Wouldn't this be prior art?
I have three.
a) Average student mostly does homework, wont be a star performer. Average.
b) Underperformer. MUst be forced to do any homework, proably counter productive because it reinforces hatred of school which is not cyclic.
c) Overperformer. Gets homework does it in two seconds flat. Explain why he really needs to do this homework, he knows it already.
With my second child (control environment same basic genetics, same income group and same parents) it is sheer hell getting the homework done. This is definitely 90% of the stress in our marriage. It really is personality driven.
So is there a solution, I really think that homework for the second child is a waste. If as poinjted out the teacher engages significantly (he loves Japanese) then it is not an issue. All other lessons don't get done.
This child has had a poor start because of some really awful teachers and some really poor attempts to correct for those awful early teachers (who all gave copious homework). When they 'required' us to drug our child with ritalin then we pulled him out and changed schools. With the change in schools we found out about the macquarie university intensive reading program pause prompt praise and a lot of the problems disolved.
Homework. I could kill my children at times, homework = stress for the parent is TRUE.
Homework that engages. Sometime this is up to the parent. I was good at school and my wife was not. If we were both in the same boat how could we deal with the physics and maths questions and effectively help our children? Social economic status = homework effective is TRUE.
I teach university. Drill that teaches students is useless in real life except if you work in a controlled factory. If this is your life goal then fine but in order to excel then you need to understand parameters and apply them to any project. It was not unusual to get students that would fail theory and pass the practical and vice versa. THere were those that would pass both. If I had a choice of passing theory (rote learning) and practical (application) guess which person I would pick anyday. Drills are good up to a point, when you are pasted drills how do you engage your students. Homeowkr you loose this, you had better be a good teacher.
Based on my own studies with my family. I can definitely say that the study is correct.
All volunteers that want to learn are welcome. If you would like to review the latest OOo documentation on OOo authors then that would meet the criteria without a problem.
I would actually like to cativate more documentors than programmers. This is where we can really excel.
There are a number of reasons that people are not employed. It took me 7 years to get my first serious computer job. I had the skills but no business application. FOSS now gives you this, want a reference from an experienced programmer, work with me and I can give you one.
If you are over 40 and out of work then there is a 'young industry' problem. People who are that old are obviously not useful, let's hire a young grad they are cheaper. You will take the same? Why you are more qualified than that, must be something wrong with you.
Employment is not always as balck and white as people paint it.
Note I am fully employed and have been for 20 years. I am just fully aware of the situation for other people. I am also aware that I am 40 and this is a glass ceiling for our industry.
This is a mutual obligation where you volunteer to help the community.
We are also mentors to get others started on FOSS development.
Work for the dole is complicated to set up and requires to much paperwork to be effective. We would also be assign all sorts of people. We only work with people who volunteer to work with us.
The Mutual obligation component is only a minor requirement and I AM NOT GOING AWAY!
I am looking towards assisting motivated people working on FOSS. If you think we we tolerate time wasters you are wrong, we are volunteers and we can simply stop providing the Mutual Obligation sign off for the slackers. It is mainly for FOSS developers who would like their time on FOSS acknowledged as mutual obligation under the AU goverment rules.
If you are fully employed and want help starting. We will help you.
If you would like more people involved in your project. Offer to be a mentor. We are actively canvassing not worker bees but the queen bees who will help all the worker bees. We need your help!
What I gain out of this is a better system. If I activate 10 programmers 1/2 as good as me that is 5 me's working on my favourite systems. This is FOSS at it's finest, enable the masses to work on it.
If there are people who are hardware challenged who need help with hardware we can suggest how to gain access to hardware. You do not need the latest and greatest hardware to contribute. A P100 may be slow but it will work. Programmers with time limits and a pay check may not bother but if you are motivated then you can do amazing things. Who is better to optimise a system someone with a dual 3gig machine or a single P100 at home? Who is more motivated to fix that performance problem.
Don't think just because you would not work that way that 100's of other do not. I used to take 3 days to compile OpenOffice.org because it was the hardware that I had P350 minum ram. Did I give up?
Get involved.
Activate 100s of new programmers.
Bring new people to FOSS that would not normally consider it.
Get that port of application X to Windows because you have activated a different sort of hackker. Even port applications to new compilers because they have them.
I am not going away and this is supported by Linux all over Australia. We have had and encourage world wide participation. We need mentors.
I SAY AGAIN! We need mentors.
The point I made in my talk was that you HAVE TO find a specific part of OOo and carve out your niche. Trying to understand the whole thing is an impossible task as you say.
Since you ask we need someone to refactor out the three string classes to just one. Thanks for your offer, we accept.
If you cannot run it through indent to format the code to your standard if you absolutely cannot read the particular brace style then you are newbie.
If you mix brace styles in the one source file or break a standard on a project THEN you are newbie.
I will stick to K&R formatting, I find your style irritating as you find my style. I get doubly irritated when people pointlessly reformat my code to make a 1 line change. Ever tried to QA that code and figure out what the real change is.
Because real businesses have no need to look back at themistakes they made in the past. They only need to go forward.
Forget college, why don't most businesses do this properly.