Karen,

Are you going to post this on the web somewhere? I'd love to link to
it in a blog post - if not I'll just copy and paste :)

---

Nicole C. Engard
Open Source Evangelist, LibLime
(888) Koha ILS (564-2457) ext. 714
[log in to unmask]
AIM/Y!/Skype: nengard

http://liblime.com
http://blogs.liblime.com/open-sesame/



On Fri, Mar 6, 2009 at 12:44 PM, Karen Schneider <[log in to unmask]> wrote:
> Code4Lib 2009 -- February 25, 2009
>
> Draft notes: Breakout Session: Evaluating Open Source
>
> Input welcome from attendees and anyone else.
>
> ----------------
>
> This breakout session started from an informal discussion at a C4L
> wine and cheese. The group brainstormed questions about questions to
> ask for evaluating open source.
>
> These questions are not absolutes and some of them (perhaps many of
> them) will elude clearly objective answers. Also, again and again, the
> group pointed out that the presence of a question did not translate to
> a requirement or a judgment — these are assessment questions, many of
> which will not be relevant to every project and will only translate to
> meaningful criteria on a selective basis. Additionally, while many of
> these same questions could be applied to any software, the consensus
> appeared to be that it was helpful to ask these questions specifically
> in the context of OSS.
>
> 1.     “Openness” of open source
>
> a.      Describe the license(s) used
>
> b.     Is the code freely and publicly available? Is it easy to find?
>
>
>
> 2.     Growth and growth management
>
> a.      How widely is the code used?
>
>                                                     i.     How many
> organizations are known to use it operationally
>
>                                                   ii.     How many
> times has it been downloaded
>
>                                                 iii.     Is usage
> information tracked and reported?
>
> b.     How long has it been in use?
>
> c.      How many developers are actively involved in the project?
>
> d.     What is the commit activity?
>
>                                                     i.     How are
> commits reported?
>
>                                                   ii.     Can commits
> be tracked in real-time? How?
>
> e.      Describe the enhancement process.
>
>                                                     i.     Are
> enhancement decisions publicly available? Who decides?
>
> f.       Describe bug-tracking: what tools, how bugs are evaluated and
> prioritized
>
>                                                     i.     Is the
> bug-tracking system publicly available?
>
> g.      Describe QA/testing processes.
>
> h.      How is the software updated?
>
> i.       Is there a migration path to the next version?
>
> j.       Describe the development planning model. Is there upgrade
> planning? A commitment to a migration path?
>
> k.      What tools are provided for migrations and upgrades?
>
> l.       Has the project forked, and if so, describe
>
>
>
> 3.     Community engagement…
>
> a.      Are there user groups? How large are they? How often do they
> meet (f2f, virtually, etc.)?
>
> b.     Discussion groups, chat channels, etc.—presence, traffic, availability
>
> c.      Activity of support forum, length of support
>
> d.     Other characteristics of the software community: size, diversity
>
>
>
> 4.     Governance
>
> a.      Describe the governance model (nonprofit, foundation, etc.)
>
> b.     Is the governance transparent? Describe.
>
>
>
> 5.     Code and standards
>
> a.      Describe the architecture—languages, structure, etc.
>
> b.     Is the project using version control?
>
> c.      How available is the version control system?
>
> d.     Is there a commercial support option?
>
> e.      Interoperability—describe.
>
> f.       Error logging and reporting—describe
>
> g.      Scalability?
>
> h.      Security? Encryption?
>
>                                                     i.     Does it
> provide security auditing tools?
>
> i.       How are permissions set and what are the default permissions?
>
> j.       What platforms does it run on, and how easy is it to
> implement on each platform?
>
> k.      For dependencies, does it rely on current versions of those programs?
>
> l.       Does the code hew to de facto or de jure standards? Which ones?
>
> m.    Are key developers active in related standards work?
>
> n.      Does the code include proprietary-source codex, flash players,
> etc.—and how is that handled?
>
>
>
> 6.     Documentation
>
> a.      Is it complete?
>
> b.     Current?
>
> c.      Open?
>
> d.     Written to standards (e.g. Docbook or DITA)?
>
>
>
> 7.     Innovation and quality
>
> a.      Is it cool at what it does? Is it useful? What’s its karma?
> Does it work well? Does it solve a problem? that needs to be solved?
>
> b.     Is it easy to use?
>
> c.      Is it focused on end users (including librarians, if they are
> the software’s end users)?
>
> d.     Ease of installation? Consistent results?
>
> e.      Accessibility?
>
> f.       Internationalization?
>
> g.      Business intelligence functions?
>
> h.      Incompatibilities?
>
> i.       Failures and deficiencies?
>
> j.       Awards, reviews, citations?
>
> k.      Certifications?
>
>
>
> --
> --
> | Karen G. Schneider
> | Community Librarian
> | Equinox Software Inc. "The Evergreen Experts"
> | Toll-free: 1.877.Open.ILS (1.877.673.6457) x712
> | [log in to unmask]
> | Web: http://www.esilibrary.com
> | Be a part of the Evergreen International Conference, May 20-22, 2009!
> | http://www.solinet.net/evergreen
>