I think that the whole subject of students engaging in client-centered open source projects -- challenges, pitfalls, etc -- might be a good topic for discussion at the upcoming pre-SIGCSE event.
I agree. Added to http://teachingopensource.org/index.php/SIGCSE_2012/TOS_symposium#Proposed_Sessions. :)
the course. Major rewards are 1) students work regularly (weekly) with a client as they develop, 2) students are full-fledged committers from the get-go, and so they must contribute good code throughout the semester, 3) students must work as a team (not just at the fringes), and 4) at the end of the semester, students leave an artifact that benefits the non-profit in a direct way.
Thanks for this, Allen -- I hadn't thought deeply about the interplay between #2-3 before. #1 and #4 are very much compatible with working with a larger project -- customizing and deploying software for a client instead of writing it from scratch -- but there is a big difference between being a core contributor from the start, vs coming in as an apprentice to someone else's project.
I can still see how that might be possible to do within the context of a large community -- for instance, developing a plugin, or taking stewardship of a forgotten piece of software like Heidi's students adopted the Caribou keyboard within GNOME -- but the choice between being peripheral contributors and central ones is an important one.
Curious what folks say at SIGCSE. :) --Mel _______________________________________________ tos mailing list [email protected] http://lists.teachingopensource.org/mailman/listinfo/tos
