Glossary

This is a glossary of some of the terms participants used in the survey. I do not claim is be an expert in any of the terms listed. I just did some web searching and I hope that this glossary helps.

Branching

Branching is to take a piece of code into a different line of development. Unlike forking, branching usually ends up merging with the original code base.

More information can be found in:
Compare with forking
Branching from http://www.cvshome.org/
Branching from "A Free CVS Book"

Concurrent Versions System

CVS is the Concurrent Versions System, the dominant open-source network-transparent version control system. (Taken from http://www.cvshome.org/)

More information can be found in:
Homepage of Concurrent Versions System
A Free CVS Book

Dynabook

Dynabook is a concept invented by Alan Kay in the 70s. The hardware for the concept is similar to today's handheld computers but the aim of the concept is about providing a media that can empower the human mind.

More information can be found in:
Alan Kay's Dynabook
Alan Kay, a biography
Articles where Dynabook is mentioned
Tools for Thought: The Birth of the Fantasy Amplifier
Fanatic Life and Symbolic Death Among the Computer Bums

Egoless Programming

A concept proposed by Gerald Weinberg in his book "The Psychology of Computer Programming" that programmers should not be territorial on their code and making errors in programming is human nature. Therefore, code should be scrutinised by other members of the team and programs should be developed as a team effort.

More information can be found in:
Weinberg, Gerald M. 1971, The Psychology of Computer Programming, Van Nostrand Reinhold, Cincinnati, New York.
Definition from Usability First
Definition from European Software Institute
Slashdot Review on "The Psychology of Computer Programming"

Extreme Programming

Extreme Programming (XP) is a deliberate and disciplined approach to software development. (Taken from http://www.extremeprogramming.org/)

More information can be found in:
Extreme Programming: A Gentle Introduction
XProgramming.com - An Extreme Programming Resource
Extreme Programming FAQ

fork, or forking of a project

A fork is what occurs when two (or more) versions of a software package's source code are being developed in parallel which once shared a common code base, and these multiple versions of the source code have irreconcilable differences between them. This should not be confused with a development branch, which may later be folded back into the original source code base. (Taken from the New Hacker's Dictionary)

More information can be found in:
Compare with branching
The fork entry in the New Hacker's Dictionary

Freshmeat

Freshmeat maintains the Web's largest index of Unix and cross-platform open source software.

More information can be found in:
Freshmeat

GNU Coding Standards

The coding standard for free software recommended by the GNU project, one of the most influential free software project.

More information can be found in:
GNU Coding Standards

Jane Jacobs' Systems of Survival - Commercial Moral Syndrome

Commercial Moral Syndrome
This concept is taken from Jane Jacob's book:

Jacobs, J. 1992, Systems of Survival. A Dialogue on the Moral Foundations of Commerce and Politics, Vintage Books/Random House, New York.
More information can be found in:
Review on Systems of Survival by Jane Jacobs#1
Review on Systems of Survival by Jane Jacobs#2

K&R

The influential book on C programming language by Brian Kernighan and Dennis Ritchie's, "The C Programming Language".

More information can be found in:
The K&R entry in the New Hacker's Dictionary

qmail and ezmlm

qmail is a SMTP server and ezmlm is a mailing list manager

More information can be found in:
qmail homepage

rsync

rsync is an open source utility that provides fast incremental file transfer.

More information can be found in:
rsync web page

Self-Reliance and Ralph Waldo Emerson

Ralph Waldo Emerson was one of the greatest American philosophers. One of his most influential ideas was self-reliance.

More information can be found in:
The Works of Ralph Waldo Emerson
A sample of Ralph Waldo Emerson's Self-Reliance essay

Software Measurements (LOC, Function Points)

In order to investigate different aspects of software development (e.g. progress), different software measurement methods are devised. Examples of those are: More information can be found in:
Pressman, R. S. 1997, Software Engineering: A Practitioner's Approach, 4th Ed., McGraw-Hill, New York.

SourceForge

SourceForge provides a centralized place for Open Source Developers to control and manage Open Source Software Development.

More information can be found in:
SourceForge

Wiki Wiki Web

A set of pages of information that are open and free for anyone to edit as they wish.

More information can be found in:
Wiki Wiki Web

Other References

The New Hacker's Dictionary

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Last Update: 25 Oct. 2001