Post on 16-Nov-2014
description
Release Managemente in Free Software ProjectsMaster on Free Software
Juanjo Amor, Gregorio Robles, Jesus M. Gonzalez-Barahona
{jjamor,grex,jgb}@gsyc.escet.urjc.esGSyC/Libresoft
2-3 November 2007
Juanjo Amor, Gregorio Robles, Jesus M. Gonzalez-Barahona Release Managemente in Free Software Projects
(cc) 2007 Juanjo Amor, Gregorio Robles, Jesus M. Gonzalez-Barahona
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Juanjo Amor, Gregorio Robles, Jesus M. Gonzalez-Barahona Release Managemente in Free Software Projects
Legal aspects
Usually, we already have a (maybe small) program
Select a license (taking into account the software to bereused), including documentation
Decide who has the copyright (authors, institution, etc.)
Include the license and copyright information in all sourcecode files
Distribute at least a single copy (the process starts)
Follow the license “as if the software does not have copyright”
Juanjo Amor, Gregorio Robles, Jesus M. Gonzalez-Barahona Release Managemente in Free Software Projects
Good practices when releasing (I)
Put the software in a place where it can be downloaded(including the sources)
Announce the software (Freshmeat and other specific sites)
Simplify the compilation and installation process (maybeincluding packaging)
Documenting the distribution
Juanjo Amor, Gregorio Robles, Jesus M. Gonzalez-Barahona Release Managemente in Free Software Projects
Good practices when releasing (and II)
Clean the code (including translation into English)
Prepare software so that it can be easily translated into otherlanguages
Open feedback channels (lists, bug reports, comments inphorums)
Build an insfrastructe that makes collaboration not onlypossible, but also easy
Manage contributions, patches, modifications and suggestions
Juanjo Amor, Gregorio Robles, Jesus M. Gonzalez-Barahona Release Managemente in Free Software Projects
The reference site
What do we want?
Visibility (so that people know that the project exists)
User base (that people use the software)
Occasional collaborators (make help by users possible)
Co-developers (make possible that others get involved)
Promote and support a business model
Depending on our goals, the required infrastructure will be different
Juanjo Amor, Gregorio Robles, Jesus M. Gonzalez-Barahona Release Managemente in Free Software Projects
Working out a good image
First impression: the web
Second impression: the installation
Third impression: the demos
Only then we will really evaluate the product
It is not a bad idea to have related material: articles, usagevideos, etc.
It is important that all the impressions are good
Juanjo Amor, Gregorio Robles, Jesus M. Gonzalez-Barahona Release Managemente in Free Software Projects
Work on a day to day basis
If we want to keep on being the “reference site”:
Users have to be motivated to use the resources put for them
Updated information
Information about related tools
Documentation, documentation, documentation
That users may express themselves easily; and that theyreceive convenient feedback
Juanjo Amor, Gregorio Robles, Jesus M. Gonzalez-Barahona Release Managemente in Free Software Projects
The web site
Presentation of the project
Project download pages (binaries and sources)
Page for news
Documentation (on-line and downloadable)
Usage examples, tricks, etc.
Space for contributions (bug reports, patches, etc.)
Related tools
Support information
Juanjo Amor, Gregorio Robles, Jesus M. Gonzalez-Barahona Release Managemente in Free Software Projects
Useful tools
Software repository (ftp, http)
CVS / Subversion, CVS-Web, Bonsai: if we want to make thelatest of the latest available
Gnats, BugZilla: report management (bugs, requests, etc.)
Phorum (Postnuke, Drupla): helps creating a community
Developer blogs
Mailman: mailing lists, with the archives (very important)
SourceForge, Savannah, BerliOS: all this together (GForge:free software forge)
Juanjo Amor, Gregorio Robles, Jesus M. Gonzalez-Barahona Release Managemente in Free Software Projects
The Software
Packaging:
tar.gz
Debian package
RPM package
Sources
Goal: as easy as possible to install
Juanjo Amor, Gregorio Robles, Jesus M. Gonzalez-Barahona Release Managemente in Free Software Projects
Distributing the binary
License (COPYING)
General Info (README). Very important: cite web site anddocumentation
Installation information (INSTALL)
Documentation (maybe in an extra package)
Binary for a specific platform (in doubt, static)
Packages with their version clearly marked
Juanjo Amor, Gregorio Robles, Jesus M. Gonzalez-Barahona Release Managemente in Free Software Projects
Marketing
Congresses, etc.
Related web sites (especially news sites)
News groups
Mailing lists
Important: generate news every once, but avoid spamming!Very important: Be ready when the announcements are made
Juanjo Amor, Gregorio Robles, Jesus M. Gonzalez-Barahona Release Managemente in Free Software Projects
Human resources
In addition to development, we need
Infrastructure management (100 / 20)
Development coordinator, including QA (40-200 / 20)
Attention to the bug tracking system (?? / 10-15)
Maintaining documentation and on-line information (60 / 10)
Public relations (?? / 20)
A project with mean complexity (hours at the beginning / hoursper week)Sources: “Open Source as a Business Strategy”, Brian Behlendorf
Juanjo Amor, Gregorio Robles, Jesus M. Gonzalez-Barahona Release Managemente in Free Software Projects
Conclusions
It is very important to attract users to our site (“marketingcampaign”)
It is very important to keep the users “with us” (competitiveadvantage)
The main goal is to create a community
We have to make life easy to our users
Very important: automatize everything that can be madeautomatically
Of course, all this depends on the goals...
Juanjo Amor, Gregorio Robles, Jesus M. Gonzalez-Barahona Release Managemente in Free Software Projects
References
“Open Source as a Bussiness Strategy”, por Brian Behlendorf(en Open Sources, Voices from the Open Source Revolution)http://www.oreilly.com/catalog/opensources
“Whether and How To Publish Software Under an OpenSource License”, por Sebastien Blondeelhttp://publish.idealx.org/
Juanjo Amor, Gregorio Robles, Jesus M. Gonzalez-Barahona Release Managemente in Free Software Projects