The Most Important Topics

Sort by Rating

Back Arrow Back

These topics were chosen from the first third across all responses from Q1-7 and Q12 with average ratings < 2.49.
Average
Totally
Irrelevant
Extremely
Relevant
No. of
Votes

1. What are the objectives of an IFHOSP site?

1.2 To support concurrent and collaborative software development
1.4  
19
Details
Answer from Previous Round
This sub-question is summarised from the following answer(s) from round 1
Terence To provide a means of storing and updating source code
Mark to facilitate shared, concurrent, version-controlled development of source code and documentation by multiple developers
Joseph coordination of participants (versioning system, bug-tracking,...)
Phil to enable collaboration among developers of open source projects
Dave Provide a collaberative effort tools.
5 Responses
Comment made in round 3
Terence Deconfliction and collaboration resources are essential, since the open methodologies must use technology to replace the stricter hierarchical decisionmaking processes in commercial software.

1.3 To facilitate communication between developers
1.4  
20
Details
Answer from Previous Round
This sub-question is summarised from the following answer(s) from round 1
Terence To facilitate knowledge sharing and discussions among developers (e.g. via discussion groups and a repository for design documents, etc.)
Mark to facilitate communication between geographically disparate developers
Alvin To make communication between developers fast and easy. (Mailing lists, possibly instant messaging, web forums, etc)
Austin Provide a forum for project-related discussions.
Noah To provide a forum for communication between developers of Open Source software.
5 Responses
Comment made in round 2
Joseph i think is nearly a duplicate to some above

1.18 To allow potential developers to contribute to projects
1.5  
19
Details
Answer from Previous Round
This sub-question is summarised from the following answer(s) from round 1
Garrett To allow potential developers to locate projects they may wish to particpate in.
Joanne To let programmers know of projects that they might wish to work on.
Luke To generate communities of contributors and projects so that developers can find interesting projects and tasks to work on and to potentially help combine efforts.
Luke Provide a location where users can keep track of projects/applications that are of interest to them. This should also allow the users to watch the workings of such projects in hopes that they would then find opportunities to become contributors.
4 Responses

1.1 To enable distributed software development for developers from different geographic locations
1.6  
20
Details
Answer from Previous Round
This sub-question is summarised from the following answer(s) from round 1
Mark to facilitate shared, concurrent, version-controlled development of source code and documentation by multiple developers
Jacob Proivde common infrastructre for distributed software developement.
Incluing but not limited to version, control, bug management, mailing lists
Schulhoff Support development of Open Source Software.
Alvin To provide technical tools (such as CVS) to aid in development
Austin Serve as central site for recruiting and organizing contributors.
Austin Provide machine and/or human resources to build and distribute product releases.
Jason To provide tools to support the community of users that develop and use the software on that site.
7 Responses
Relevant Glossary
Concurrent Versions System

1.4 To facilitate communication between developers and users (of Free Software/Open Source software)
1.9  
20
Details
Answer from Previous Round
This sub-question is summarised from the following answer(s) from round 1
Terence To transfer information from users to developers (e.g. bug-tracking)
Garrett To provide multiple means of high levels of communication between developers and users.
Joseph communication (mailing list, faqs) for users and participants
William Facilitate communication between users and suppliers, so that the
users have a chance of influencing the direction of the project.
Joanne To bring customers and programmers together.
5 Responses
Comment made in round 3
Terence This is important in the user->developer direction, since the beta-testers and users can provide a lot of insight into bugs, and use-case inspired features. However, web tools can help categorize the relevance/helpfulness of the suggestions.

1.5 To facilitate cooperation between related parties (programmers, designers, documentation writers, advocates/salesman, etc.)
2.0  
20
Details
Answer from Previous Round
This sub-question is summarised from the following answer(s) from round 1
William Facilitate cooperation between the builders of the project (programmers, designers, documentation writers, advocates/salesmen, ..)
Comment made in round 3
Terence By acting as a central repository, such cooperation is benefitted.

1.20 To facilitate software development in a better way
2.2  
19
Details
Answer from Previous Round
This sub-question is summarised from the following answer(s) from round 1
Brendan build a better mousetrap
Brendan maintain a better mousetrap
Brendan support and enhance a better mousetrap
Noah To facilitate the development of better software.
4 Responses
Comment made in round 3
Terence Due to lack of explicit management personnel resources, open-source must rely on technology to help the coders and architects manage the team as well.

1.38 To facilitate high levels of communication multiple means
2.4  
17
Details
Answer from Previous Round
This sub-question is summarised from the following answer(s) from round 1
Garrett To provide multiple means of high levels of communication between developers and users.
Comment made in round 2
Garrett I believe that this should be "communication via multiple means".

1.37 The site should be fast and has high availability.
2.4  
19
Details
Answer from Previous Round
This sub-question is summarised from the following answer(s) from round 1
Austin Provide a repository for source code and documentation that is fast and has high availability to developers and the user community.
Comment made in round 3
Brent Not really a reason.

1.29 To build a sense of community of between developers for a project
2.5  
19
Details
Answer from Previous Round
This sub-question is summarised from the following answer(s) from round 1
Brendan share the pain and the gain
Brendan build an audience of folks who will share the load of software development and support
Luke To generate communities of contributors and projects so that developers can find interesting projects and tasks to work on and to potentially help combine efforts.
3 Responses

2. What tools can be employed on an IFHOSP site and what are the important features and usability factors for each of them?

2.1 Source Code Repository
1.1  
17
Details
Answer from Previous Round
Relevant Glossary
Concurrent Versions System

2.2 Mailing List
1.4  
17
Details
Answer from Previous Round
Relevant Glossary
ezmlm , qmail

2.5 WWW Server
1.5  
17
Details
Answer from Previous Round

2.4 Tracking System
1.8  
17
Details
Answer from Previous Round

2.11 Security Measures (e.g. ssh)
2.3  
16
Details
Answer from Previous Round

3. What work practices and culture should be promoted?

3.27 Jane Jacob's systems of survival's commercial moral syndrome
1.7  
3
Details
Answer from Previous Round
This sub-question is summarised from the following answer(s) from round 1
Brendan jane jacob's systems of survival's commercial moral syndrome
Comment made in round 2
Neil Provide a hyperlink to what you mean here. http://www.grist.org/articles/2000/00.10.19_Systems_of_Survival.html
Relevant Glossary
Jane Jacobs' Systems of Survival - Commercial Moral Syndrome

3.17 Flexibility towards volunteers
1.8  
13
Details
Answer from Previous Round
This sub-question is summarised from the following answer(s) from round 1
Joanne The culture would have to be one of tolerance. Most open source software is still done by volunteers (who have other jobs). Deadlines must remain flexible. Teleconferencing must be at a mutually agreed upon time (people could be and probably will be in different time zones). Also, the more people working on a project, the more ideas will be generated. All participant's should be listened to. You get a better product and happier participants.
Brendan openness as to skills and time commitments

3.37 Fun and good spirit and hope
1.8  
13
Details
Answer from Previous Round
This sub-question is summarised from the following answer(s) from round 1
Leslie Fun and good spirit and hope
Comment made in round 2
Chris We're not being paid for this, remember? If it's not fun, nobody will do it. Now, it sure helps that some people have twisted and sicks ideas of what is fun, that is one of the things that the sheer numbers of open source helps... :-)
Neil If you don't like it, don't do it.

3.28 Using centralised repository for source code
1.9  
14
Details
Answer from Previous Round
This sub-question is summarised from the following answer(s) from round 1
Dave Checking code into a common repository.
Comment made in round 2
Chris Sometimes, things that are too experimental are better run as a side project. For example, witness the "ac" series of Linux kernels, which have more leading edge things in it. The people using these kernels are aware that they are being guinea pigs, and the things deemed good and stable are then sent over to the mainline kernel tree.

3.35 Clarity, simpleness of code
1.9  
14
Details
Answer from Previous Round
This sub-question is summarised from the following answer(s) from round 1
Noah Clarity, simpleness of code.

3.9 Creating a public library atomsphere, giving users as much freedom as possible and staying out of the users' way
2.1  
13
Details
Answer from Previous Round
This sub-question is summarised from the following answer(s) from round 1
Mark staying out of the user's way. nothing is more annoying than a paternalistic site that tries to impose the "right" process on its users. an infrasturcture site ideally resembles a public library or community center: lots to read, see and do, minimal procedure required for just browsing. all facilities should be linked off the first page, accessible through email-only or shell-only interfaces, and require no "registration" or special click-through paths to operate.

expansion: "public library atmosphere". anonymous, focused on research, browsable (sourceforge has got the browsable code portion right, but for example there is no automatic facility for formatting a project's documentation for the web, so a visitor is unlikely to read it)
Relevant Glossary
SourceForge

3.29 To include automated building and testing facilities in releases
2.1  
14
Details
Answer from Previous Round
This sub-question is summarised from the following answer(s) from round 1
Mark to provide automated building and testing facilities
Dave Providing release build testing.

3.20 Openness in attitude, no hidden agenda
2.2  
13
Details
Answer from Previous Round
This sub-question is summarised from the following answer(s) from round 1
Phil everything should be open, no hidden agenda
Patrick transparency - openness about procedures and policies

3.21 Openness in procedures and policies
2.2  
14
Details
Answer from Previous Round
This sub-question is summarised from the following answer(s) from round 1
Patrick transparency - openness about procedures and policies

3.16 Listening to others
2.2  
13
Details
Answer from Previous Round
This sub-question is summarised from the following answer(s) from round 1
Joanne The culture would have to be one of tolerance. Most open source software is still done by volunteers (who have other jobs). Deadlines must remain flexible. Teleconferencing must be at a mutually agreed upon time (people could be and probably will be in different time zones). Also, the more people working on a project, the more ideas will be generated. All participant's should be listened to. You get a better product and happier participants.
Comment made in round 2
Chris Up to a point. See 3.13.

3.30 Easy to use, high usability
2.4  
14
Details
Answer from Previous Round
This sub-question is summarised from the following answer(s) from round 1
Luke Inviting environment: This means that the tools must be easy to use, not take too much time away from actual develpoment and allow for easy addition to becoming a project member.
Noah Usability.

3.13 Tolerance, respect and patience
2.4  
13
Details
Answer from Previous Round
This sub-question is summarised from the following answer(s) from round 1
Joanne The culture would have to be one of tolerance. Most open source software is still done by volunteers (who have other jobs). Deadlines must remain flexible. Teleconferencing must be at a mutually agreed upon time (people could be and probably will be in different time zones). Also, the more people working on a project, the more ideas will be generated. All participant's should be listened to. You get a better product and happier participants.
Phil respect other people
Brendan tolerance toward others particularly across languages and cultures
Brendan patience but firmness
4 Responses
Comment made in round 2
Chris This is important, but the natural selection scheme of open source depends on the bad ideas being culled. Being too nice to someone that is an idiot and keep introducing bad ideas in a design is wrong. You give people a few chances when they mess things up, but at some point you have to say "stop".

3.1 Sense of responsibility
2.4  
14
Details
Answer from Previous Round
This sub-question is summarised from the following answer(s) from round 1
Terence There should be a chain of responsibility for each addition to the
code

3.38 Frequent submissions of contributions
2.4  
14
Details
Answer from Previous Round
This sub-question is summarised from the following answer(s) from round 1
Gabriel Frequent submissions of contributions
Comment made in round 2
Neil Speed of projects is irrelevant - particularly volunteer led ones.
Comment made in round 3
Garrett Having things move fast is one of the things that people like about FS/OS. Without it, users lose interest in projects, and following that, developers also lose interest.

3.5 Reuse of existing source code
2.4  
14
Details
Answer from Previous Round
This sub-question is summarised from the following answer(s) from round 1
Mark reuse of existing code by developers! sourceforge in particular fails horribly to promote a culture of reuse, by collecting and "ranking" statistics on such misguided metrics as "number of new commits to CVS". since sourceforge is a commercial venture, they want to promote the multiplicity of projects, but this behaviour undermines the central benefit of free software: reuse and modification of others' code.

clarification: the "number of new commits to CVS" is a very sourceforge-specific example, and is meaningless as a general survey concept. they also, for example, have a "new projects this week" statistic which is troubling. what I really wanted to get at was: don't focus the site purely on the "creation of new software" (though this is perhaps the most fun part of programming) but rather on "finding software which solves your problem". e.g. make it easy for one project to depend on another (or several others), make it easy to cross-reference documentation between projects, etc.
Relevant Glossary
Concurrent Versions System , SourceForge

4. What are factors that movitate users to use an IFHOSP site?

4.2 Available 24 hours a day
1.1  
10
Details
Answer from Previous Round
This sub-question is summarised from the following answer(s) from round 1
Mark availability and reliability
Phil it is readily available (24 hours a day)

4.8 The tools provided are effective and productive
1.4  
9
Details
Answer from Previous Round
This sub-question is summarised from the following answer(s) from round 1
Luke The desire to remove the burden of maintaining all the tools themselves, and to be able to spent more time on development of the project.

4.3 Reliable
1.6  
10
Details
Answer from Previous Round
This sub-question is summarised from the following answer(s) from round 1
Mark availability and reliability
Alvin Reliability. (is the machine going to get broken into? Are the CVS servers going to go down? Do they do regular backups?)
Brendan reliable stuff
Leslie Speed, reliability, good cms system lot's of software
4 Responses
Relevant Glossary
Concurrent Versions System

4.20 To attract more contributors
2.0  
9
Details
Answer from Previous Round
This sub-question is summarised from the following answer(s) from round 1
Phil (almost guaranteed) ability to get a response/feedback
Luke To be part of the community and attract more contributors.

4.9 Convenience - provides resources are difficult for an individual to maintain (e.g. web site)
2.0  
10
Details
Answer from Previous Round
This sub-question is summarised from the following answer(s) from round 1
Terence Provides resources not individually available (e.g. web-site)
Jacob One stop prepakced solution that provides a great deal of needed
infrastructure that otherwise would be reinvented
Schulhoff Convenience - Not having to maintain a web site as project interface.
Alvin Available tools
Luke The desire to remove the burden of maintaining all the tools themselves, and to be able to spent more time on development of the project.
5 Responses

4.6 Fast access, responsive (high bandwidth and power server)
2.1  
10
Details
Answer from Previous Round
This sub-question is summarised from the following answer(s) from round 1
Mark speed
Alvin Accessibility (is the site well designed and easy to navigate? Does is respond quickly?)
Brendan fast access
Leslie Speed, reliability, good cms system lot's of software
4 Responses

4.4 Low Cost or Free
2.2  
10
Details
Answer from Previous Round
This sub-question is summarised from the following answer(s) from round 1
Schulhoff Cost - Hosting of the project is free.
Alvin Cost. (does the site have a monthly fee? Are there lots of banner ads?)
Brendan free stuff
3 Responses

4.7 The tools provided are standard and commonly used
2.2  
10
Details
Answer from Previous Round
This sub-question is summarised from the following answer(s) from round 1
Garrett The availability to use standard tools (e.g., CVS), yet hosted in a production capacity.
Schulhoff Common interface - Developers do not have to learn a new interface when joining a project.
Relevant Glossary
Concurrent Versions System

4.16 The site is frequently updated
2.3  
10
Details
Answer from Previous Round
This sub-question is summarised from the following answer(s) from round 1
Brendan latest stuff

5. What are barriers that prevent users from using an IFHOSP site?

5.1 Unreliable
1.7  
9
Details
Answer from Previous Round
This sub-question is summarised from the following answer(s) from round 1
Mark downtime
Jacob Problems of knowing the hosted site is reliable and does not become
a bottleneck
Alvin Lack of reliability
Luke Fear that the IFHOSP will shut down and disrupt the project
4 Responses
Comment made in round 3
Garrett An unreliable IFHSOP site is utterly useless.

5.5 The opposite of the answers in question 4
2.0  
3
Details
Answer from Previous Round
This sub-question is summarised from the following answer(s) from round 1
Leslie the oposite of the former answer
Comment made in round 2
Neil The questions are out of order. This question is hard to answer as there's double negatives involved. Rephrase or drop.

5.7 Counterproductive user interface
2.2  
9
Details
Answer from Previous Round
This sub-question is summarised from the following answer(s) from round 1
Schulhoff Counterproductive user interface - Many developers view productivity as a goal in it self.
Dave Tools that are hard to use or that are impossible to get ones work done.
Noah Poor user interface.
3 Responses

6. What are the positive results for users in using an IFHOSP site?

6.2 Increase communication within the developers
1.3  
10
Details
Answer from Previous Round
This sub-question is summarised from the following answer(s) from round 1
Mark increase in intra-group communication
Joanne Working with others. While working with others can sometimes be frustrating, it can also be rewarding (others are interested in 'your' project, you can brainstorm with them, etc).

6.13 More reliable then individually hosted servers (e.g. with only dial-up connection)
1.5  
10
Details
Answer from Previous Round
This sub-question is summarised from the following answer(s) from round 1
Mark reliable point of storage and distribution for software, documents
Garrett IFHOSP sites provide 24/7 service-hosting abilities. Without this, dialup-connection developer's ability to provide Open Source products effectively is extremely limited.

6.1 Facilitation of developers to update the source code in the repository directly and reduction of the need to interact with the project leader to change the code
1.6  
10
Details
Answer from Previous Round
This sub-question is summarised from the following answer(s) from round 1
Mark increase in developer <-> repository source code interaction,
with corresponding decrease in developer <-> developer source
code interaction

clarification: developers send patches to one another (not just with the project leader) and produce multiple, personal, non-synchronized versions of their software when they do not have a repository to work from.
Comment made in round 2
Chris I would sometimes appreciate some more control over this. For example, SourceForge automatically gives commit access to the CVS repository of a project upon making someone a member of a project. I would like the option of having more control over this, to make some people that I know write very bad code but are useful in other ways part of the community without troubling my sleep over whether they will break the tree while I'm gone.
Relevant Glossary
Concurrent Versions System , SourceForge

6.6 Getting people to contribute to the development from all over world
1.8  
10
Details
Answer from Previous Round
This sub-question is summarised from the following answer(s) from round 1
Joanne Working with others. While working with others can sometimes be frustrating, it can also be rewarding (others are interested in 'your' project, you can brainstorm with them, etc).
Luke More community awareness which can result in more contributors
Gabriel Being able to collaborate with many people distributed all around the globe.
3 Responses

6.22 Tools with better quality than individually hosted sites
1.8  
10
Details
Answer from Previous Round
This sub-question is summarised from the following answer(s) from round 1
Michael Quality Assurance on the tools you use are done by more than your own local developer- and userbase, so problems are more likely to be fixed before they impair one of your developers/users.

6.25 Decrease the startup cost of hosting an Open Source/Free Software project
2.1  
10
Details
Answer from Previous Round
This sub-question is summarised from the following answer(s) from round 1
Michael Decreased project startup cost. The use of premade hosting infrastructure makes it possible to set up a fairly complete set of project infrastructure very simply, avoiding the normal costs (in terms of time or money) associated with finding a place to host it, aquiring a domain name, finding which software to use, setting up various software, etc.

6.17 Facilitating collaboration and reduction of dulplicated effort
2.1  
10
Details
Answer from Previous Round
This sub-question is summarised from the following answer(s) from round 1
Garrett Of particular importance is the ability to revive dead projects. Without this ability, many projects would sit on someone's personal computer, forever gotten.

6.3 Increase communication between the developers and other parties
2.1  
10
Details
Answer from Previous Round
This sub-question is summarised from the following answer(s) from round 1
Mark attraction of interested third parties
Phil being able to get help/assistance if they have a problem/question

6.20 Obtaining up to date information
2.2  
10
Details
Answer from Previous Round
This sub-question is summarised from the following answer(s) from round 1
Phil getting up to date information

6.26 Decrease the possibility of producing multiple non-synchronized versions of software
2.2  
10
Details
Answer from Previous Round
This sub-question is summarised from the following answer(s) from round 1
Mark increase in developer <-> repository source code interaction,
with corresponding decrease in developer <-> developer source
code interaction

clarification: developers send patches to one another (not just with the project leader) and produce multiple, personal, non-synchronized versions of their software when they do not have a repository to work from.

6.5 Decrease time in administration of an IFHOSP site individually
2.2  
10
Details
Answer from Previous Round
This sub-question is summarised from the following answer(s) from round 1
Luke More time to spend on the project itself, instead of wasteful management overhead.

7. What are the negative results for users in using an IFHOSP site?

7.10 Loss control of the choice of tools hosted on site
2.4  
9
Details
Answer from Previous Round
This sub-question is summarised from the following answer(s) from round 1
Michael Limited tool choice. If you for instance think that BitKeeper or Perforce are better choices than CVS for your version control, this will not be provided by the IFHOSP site, and you thus need to either do your own hosting of at least that component, or give up the choice.
Relevant Glossary
Concurrent Versions System

12. What are other important issues in IFHOSP?

12.4 IFHOSP site should be careful on the usage agreements with users and provide them with enough freedom
1.5  
10
Details
Answer from Previous Round
This sub-question is summarised from the following answer(s) from round 1
Alvin Usage agreements - the IFHOSP must be very careful in terms of what they are and aren't allowed to do with the code on their site. Sites that have statements such as "hosting your project here grants the site owners a nonexclusive, royalty free perpetual license to use the software" are not acceptable.

12.11 The acronym IFHOSP is pointlessly obscure
1.9  
10
Details
Answer from Previous Round
This sub-question is summarised from the following answer(s) from round 1
Troy (I think the acronym IFHOSP is pointlessly obscure)
Comment made in round 2
Chris In question 12.12, I saw Freshmeat mentioned, while I was thinking of sites that hosts projects themselves, like SourceForge. I think of Freshmeat as a kind of Yahoo of projects, providing important things like categorizing and news related to open source projects. Thus, I answered things like "IFHOSP should not put too much emphasis on categorizing and news", because I was thinking that they should leave this kind of things to sites like Freshmeat. Now, if Freshmeat *is* an IFHOSP... :-)
Mark how about "host"?
Relevant Glossary
Freshmeat , SourceForge

12.8 Anyone wanting to setup an IFHOSP needs to be aware of the responsibility involved
2.0  
10
Details
Answer from Previous Round
This sub-question is summarised from the following answer(s) from round 1
Luke Anyone wanting to setup an IFHOSP needs to be aware of the responsibility involved. They must be open and honest with their users so that if a problem is growing, that the users are not blindsided.

12.9 An IFHOSP should be run in an open fashion and users should be well informed
2.0  
10
Details
Answer from Previous Round
This sub-question is summarised from the following answer(s) from round 1
Luke Anyone wanting to setup an IFHOSP needs to be aware of the responsibility involved. They must be open and honest with their users so that if a problem is growing, that the users are not blindsided.

12.1 Expanding an IFHOSP into multiple mirror sites to increase reliability and obtain more credibility from users
2.2  
10
Details
Answer from Previous Round
This sub-question is summarised from the following answer(s) from round 1
Mark developing a coherent, reasonable plan for expanding the site into a "federation" or mirror-network of multiple sites, not all of which are under the original site-owner's control. central points of failure (and administrative control) make programmers suspicious.
Jacob How to build a robust system that scales across the entire internet, and allows for concurrent development in the face of network partitions.
Comment made in round 2
Phil yes, but there is a need for a good synchronisation effort

12.5 Fair to all efforts
2.3  
10
Details
Answer from Previous Round
This sub-question is summarised from the following answer(s) from round 1
Dave Needs to be fair to all open source efforts.

12.10 An IFHOSP should be have up to date information of the site and employ novel techniques
2.4  
9
Details
Answer from Previous Round
This sub-question is summarised from the following answer(s) from round 1
Phil keeping up to date with what's going on (e.g. new projects, dead projects, novel techniques, etc.)
Comment made in round 3
Terence "Novel" is not as important as standards


Back Arrow Back
Generated On: 24 Dec 2003