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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 >