Course Essentials

Class meetings:
Tuesdays and Thursdays 11:00am - 12:15pm, 60 5th ave, Room C10
(attendance is mandatory).

Office hours:
Joanna: Mondays 9:30 - 11:00am, Thursdays 1:30 - 3:00pm, (or you can schedule an appointment if these times do not work for you) (423 CIWW)
Sachin: Mondays 10:00am - 12:00pm (406 WWH)

Class discussion board: Piazza
Post all course related questions to the discussion board. If you have questions related to your grading, contact your instructor directly (office hours or email).

How to get help? Ask questions on discussion forums (Piazza)! Ask questions during lectures! Talk to us (We cannot help, unless we know there is an issue). See the tutors and/or instructor during posted office hours or set up an appointment! Make sure you let us know as soon as you feel lost in the course. Do not wait till you start getting failing grades because it might be too late by then.

Course Description

Open Source Software Development

CSCI-UA 480 Prerequisite: Computer Systems Organization (CSCI-UA 201).

This course prepares students to become active participants in open source projects. It begins with an overview of the philosophy and brief history of open source development, followed by an in-depth look at different types of open source projects and the study of various tools involved in open source development. In particular, it covers the collaborative nature of open source projects, community structure, version control systems, licensing, intellectual property, types of contributions (programming and non-programming) and the tool-chains that enable such contributions. The students are expected to contribute to existing open source projects.

Why Open Source Matters and Why Should You Care?

• Webopedia : software definition, software vs. hardware

• Computer Science Education in the 21st Century by David A. Patterson, Commun. ACM 49, (3): 27-30 (March, 2006)

• The Rise of Open-Source Platform

• Open Source Software No Longer Optional By Gary Anthes, Communications of the ACM, Vol. 59 No. 8, Pages 15-17, 10.1145/2949684

• Open Source to the Core by Jordan Hubbard, ACM Queue, June 14, 2004, Volume 2, issue 3

• How to Contribute to Open Source

Important Dates

Midterm Exam (these dates may change if there are any schedule changes):
Thursday, March 8th

Final Exam: (date and time subject to change by CAS, check the dates posted by the department here )
TBD