Module Identifier CS38110  
Module Title OPEN SOURCE DEVELOPMENT ISSUES  
Academic Year 2007/2008  
Co-ordinator Dr Adrian D Shaw  
Semester Intended for use in future years  
Next year offered N/A  
Next semester offered N/A  
Other staff Mr Richard C Shipman, Dr Adrian D Shaw, Mr David J Smith  
Pre-Requisite None  
Co-Requisite None  
Mutually Exclusive None  
Course delivery Lecture    

Brief description

Open Source software is normally considered to be freely available, with few restrictions on its use. The programmers are not paid directly for their work, but may make money from consulting or books. Whether or not our students wish to follow such a career, the subject is worthy of study from an academic standpoint alone.

Content

1. What is Open Source and why you should care about it.

2. A Brief History of the open source development culture

3. Contrasting two main methods of building large pieces of software: "The Cathedral and the Bazaar"
Teams led by a chief architect, as opposed to software development led by users.
Open sourcing initiated by companies.

4. The property and ownership customs of the open-source culture.
Legal issues including licensing, using open source software in other packages, which may come under a different licence.

5. The economics of open source software.
How to make money out of Open Source software.

6. Current issues and future challenges.
Is Open Source a threat to big corporations? Are there implications for national governments?

Module Skills

Notes

This module is at CQFW Level 6