#23765
Key Open Source "Best Practices" Supported in the Tigris Project
Software developers spend a large part of their time communicating with each other. Clear and effective technical communications are needed to keep the team in synch and to allow individuals with key knowledge to apply that knowledge where it is needed. One tenet of the open source community is that techincal communications should take place in public forums. Mailing lists are the backbone of open source communications. Beyond that, open source projects need support for precisely communicating technical details and for group decision-making.
Tigris (1994). Articles>Collaboration>Open Source
#23809
The MySQL Roadmap – What's Planned?
MySQL is old news ...or is it? In this fast-paced expose, Blane looks at where MySQL is now, and what's planned in Versions 4.1 and 5 - including the exciting developments of MySQL Cluster and Stored Procedures!
Warrene, Blane. SitePoint (2004). Articles>Information Design>Databases>Open Source
#28124
Collaborative technologies are supplanting traditional channels for product tech support.
Udell, Jon. InfoWorld (2005). Articles>Documentation>Open Source
#29190
Open source is a licensing model where the software and the source code are distributed without requiring licensing fees.
Gottlieb, Seth. Content Management Professionals (2007). Articles>Software>Open Source
#29523
Open Source For Technical Writing Teams
A presentation introducting how to support technical documentation teams with open-source tools.
SlideShare (2007). Presentations>Collaboration>Technical Writing>Open Source
#24998
Open Source Licenses Are Not All the Same
One of the most significant developments in the software and web development community in the past few years has been the increased use of open source software. It's vital for any programmer, web designer, or other computer professional to understand that open source licenses are not all the same. The differences between licenses can have a big impact on how you may use or distribute the software.
Fishman, Stephen. O'Reilly and Associates (2004). Articles>Intellectual Property>Open Source
#12975
The Open Source Writers Group is a non-commercial, non-profit organization whose primary goal is to improve the overall quality and quantity of free open-source and open-content documentation. All OSWG activities and projects are related to this primary goal.
Open Source Writers Group. Organizations>Documentation>Open Source>Software
#29405
"Open Source" is not a Marketing Term
Open source software development is not just about providing the source code for your application. It is much more about building a community around a shared project. That takes time. I think the biggest myth about open source software is that you say 'hey, I'm open source now' and suddenly thousands of qualified people give up nights and weekends to work on your code.
Balog, Tarus. Adventures in Open Source (2007). Articles>Collaboration>Open Source>Methods
#22080
Open-Source Content Management Systems
Open-source CMS has now matured to the point where it should be considered alongside commercial products, but is not without its weaknesses and issues.
Robertson, James. Step Two (2004). Articles>Content Management>Software>Open Source
#19997
Open-Source Software: Gaining Ground
Have you ever run across a bug in your word processor that interfered with your work? Or perhaps you've wished that your graphics program had a certain feature that would make your life easier. With most commercial software, you're at the mercy of the company that created it. All you can do is call the technical support line, explain the situation, and hope that there's a work-around or that your issue will be addressed whenever the next version is released. With proprietary software, the company owns the software and doesn't allow anyone else to modify it or even see the source code -- the human-readable (well, programmer-readable) instructions used to create the executable file that the computer runs. Some people have likened such software to a car with the hood locked shut so that only the manufacturer can service it. But with open-source software, you have other options because you have the source code. If you have the knowledge, you can modify the program yourself. If not, you can hire a programmer to make the changes you want.
Ivey, Keith C. Editorial Eye, The (1998). Articles>Software>Open Source
#13957
Is Linux in your technical writing future? The possibility is becoming too strong to ignore. Companies like Merrill Lynch and Credit Suisse First Boston are using Linux now, and countries ranging from Germany and France to Pakistan and Venezuela are adapting it and other open source software for government business. In high-tech, IBM reports that over one thousand of its business partners became Linux-certified in 2001, and the Linux applications listed in the IBM Global Solutions Directory rose from 2300 to 2800 in the six months between June 2001 and January 2002. In a little less than three years, Linux has captured over a third of the server market, and, while its share of the desktop market seems stalled at four percent, growing concerns about security, the cost of commercial software, and restrictive licensing practices are starting to change that.
Byfield, Bruce. TECHWR-L (2002). Articles>Software>Open Source>Linux
#25906
PostgreSQL vs. MySQL vs. Commercial Databases: It's All About What You Need
Can you trust the leading open-source database engines, PostgreSQL and MySQL, to deliver the performance and features that the Oracles, SQL Servers, and DB2s of the world do? Not just yet, but they could offer enough to meet your needs. Find out how they stack up against each other, as well as against the commercial alternatives.
Conrad, Tim. DevX.com (2004). Articles>Information Design>Databases>Open Source
#20052
Public Key Infrastructure Digital Signatures and Systematic Risk 
The last few years have seen very considerable developments in the networks and technologies of electronic commerce, matched by the promotional and regulatory initiatives of international and national government towards electronic commerce. Of particular note have been the technological and regulatory developments in relation to public key cryptography and digital signatures. These regulatory developments arguably represent a promotion of an emerging Public Key Infrastructure as an international open network infrastructure for digital signature authorisation in electronic commerce. However, over the same period concerns have been growing in other international open network infrastructures, such as banking and finance, that such strongly inter-connected and inter-dependent infrastructures may be subject to systematic risk. Indeed, it appears that vulnerability to systematic risk is a characteristic of any complex open network. Therefore, the question can be posed whether the emerging Public Key Infrastructure is also vulnerable to systematic risk.
Murray, Jamie. JILT (2003). Articles>Communication>Open Source>Security
#31085
The Role for Technical Communicators in Open-Source Software Development 
Although it claims to adhere to user-centered design principles of participatory design and democratized technology, open-source software often fails to effectively address the usability needs of typical software users. In many cases, it embodies a system-centered design approach facilitated by the efforts of developer-users. In addition to the existing participation in open-source projects in the classroom, technical communicators should actively critique open-source software and promote user-centered design principles in open-source software projects.
Yeats, Dave. Technical Communication Online (2008). Articles>TC>Programming>Open Source
#25569
Trust and Zeal in Open Source Advocacy
People who are unfamiliar with open source generally don't like evangelists--at all. This is particularly true for managers who may take the same disdain to evangelists that they take to salespeople and marketers.
Bacon, Jono. O'Reilly and Associates (2005). Articles>Collaboration>Open Source
#26740
Understanding Open Source, Part 1
Open source software is big news right now. We've heard from big-name corporations who support it and oppose it. A number of high-profile intellectual property battles concern it. You probably know an open source zealot who's spent some time extolling its virtues. Open source software is a good thing, and has an important place in the tech sector. Closed source software also has its place, and the industry will benefit most from cooperation between the two.
Feldman, David. KMworld (2006). Articles>Technology>Software>Open Source
#30871
Usability in Open Source Software
Open source is a software licensing philosophy which believes the human readable code source of a software should be available for the public to freely install, modify, or redistribute. The term 'open source' can also refer to the community and development practices of thousands of free/libre/open source software (FLOSS) projects who subscribe to this philosophy and license their software under one of the many available software licenses.
Paul, Celeste Lyn. Usability Professionals Association (2008). Articles>Usability>Software>Open Source
#19544
The Usability of Open Source Software
Open source communities have successfully developed a great deal of software although most computer users only use proprietary applications. The usability of open source software is often regarded as one reason for this limited distribution. In this paper we review the existing evidence of the usability of open source software and discuss how the characteristics of open source development influence usability. We describe how existing human-computer interaction techniques can be used to leverage distributed networked communities, of developers and users, to address issues of usability.
Nichols, David M. and Michael B. Twidale. First Monday (2003). Design>Usability>Software>Open Source
#28039
In this series, follow along as the IBM Internet Technology Group team designs, develops, and deploys a closed community Web site using a suite of software that is freely available. The open source community provides various tools that, when plugged together, begin to create a useful development and production environment for complex Web applications. Using these tools as a foundation, we provide a methodology and set of enhancements to help you simplify the production process. Although customization is still necessary, this series shows you the tools and techniques to get relatively complicated Web sites up and running quickly using open source tools, including Drupal, MySQL, PHP, Apache, and Eclipse technologies. In this first article, you'll compare our approach with other software tools available and explore the enhancements we made.
Lewis-Bowen, Alister, Stephen Evanchik and Louis Weitzman. IBM (2006). Design>Web Design>Collaboration>Open Source
#28038
In this series, you follow along as the IBM Internet Technology Group designs, develops, and deploys a closed community Web site using a suite of software that is freely available. Most of this series focuses on the actual implementation of the Web site, but this second article is a bit more generic. Read it to explore our design process, which can help you to create user experiences for applications, other interfaces, or Web sites. Part 1 discusses the team's requirements, compares several open source content management systems, and provides the rationale for choosing Drupal.
Lewis-Bowen, Alister, Stephen Evanchik and Louis Weitzman. IBM (2006). Design>Web Design>Collaboration>Open Source
#18293
What Is Open Source Software And Is It Usable?
Open Source Software (OSS) is a software project where all the source code is freely available, usually according to a licensing agreement baring commercial gain on the source. The contributors to the project are usually part-time computing enthusiasts with a wide variety of backgrounds and experiences. Usability specialists are not generally part of the development process.
Watkins, Robert. Usability Professionals Association (2001). Articles>Usability>Open Source>Software
#25255
Why Free IT Management Tools are Gaining Traction
Free software has penetrated close to three-quarters of all multi-billion dollar corporations and growth continues steadily. Industry research confirms that the primary reason IT organizations purchase free software solutions is the opportunity to reduce costs and improve technology performance. While leading products such as Linux, Apache and MySQL have generated the most attention, free software tools for IT management such as Nagios have matured and are poised for mainstream adoption.
Winkelstein, Will. Free Software Magazine (2005). Articles>Software>Open Source
#25471
Wide Open: Open Source Methods and their Future Potential
The principles of 'open source' - collaborative forms of creating knowledge pioneered in software development - have huge untapped potential to transform business, government and everyday life.
Mulgan, Geoff, Omar Salem and Tom Steinberg. Demos (2005). Books>Publishing>Open Source
#32245
Putting peer-reviewed scientific and scholarly literature on the internet. Making it available free of charge and free of most copyright and licensing restrictions. Removing the barriers to serious research.
Suber, Peter. Open Access News. Resources>Publishing>Open Source>Blogs
#32300
Electronic Scholarly Publishing and Open Access
A review of recent developments in electronic publishing, with a focus on Open Access (OA) is provided. It describes the two main types of OA, i.e. the `gold' OA journal route and the `green' repository route, highlighting the advantages and disadvantages of the two, and the reactions of the publishing industry to these developments. Quality, cost and copyright issues are explored, as well as some of the business models of OA. It is noted that whilst so far there is no evidence that a shift to OA will lead to libraries cancelling subscriptions to toll-access journals, this may happen in the future, and that despite the apparently compelling reasons for authors to move to OA, so far few have shown themselves willing to do so. Conclusions about the future of scholarly publications are drawn.
Oppenheim, Charles. Journal of Information Science (2008). Articles>Publishing>Research>Open Source
