No? Well, me neither, at least not until a couple of weeks ago, when browsing through the Github trends I found that these guys had a lot of activity going on and decided to have a look. I was amazed. Not by the code, which has great quality, but by the idea. And what a great idea it is. If you didn't click on the link, don't worry, I want to share with you what's so special about it.
In a nutshell, and as publicly expressed by the current organizers, these are some of the goals for the code52 project:
- Introduce developers to open-source projects and help them learn the ropes
- Contribute to projects across a range of technologies
- Let contributors have a say in what they do each week
But, how? Well, Andrew Tobin, Brendan Forster and Paul Jenkins decided to try and create a brand new open source project, each week!
If you work on software development, you know how difficult completing and actively working in one project can be. Open sourced or not, it demands a lot of energy and dedication. You can imagine then that attending to and starting one each week successfully, is a monumental task. Even more if you already have a day job. However, this guys are pulling it off and that's just astonishing.
The reason why I am so excited about this idea, is that it's a conscious and continuous well organized effort, to establish a mindset of contribution and collaboration among developers around the world. Let me explain what I mean.
While there are certainly lots of open source projects out there, most of them are born in a totally random way. That meaning, usually, someone has and itch they need to scratch, and that's how they come to be. This, as I see it, has a couple of disadvantages.
First, there is no systematic way of giving birth to projects, and while that in itself is not bad, it definitively doesn't help the growth and quality either.
Second, the fact that they get created in a disconnected way, most of the time means redundancy in effort and resources. By that I mean that lots of projects with the same ambitious objectives come to life, but due to lack of synergy or momentum, they ultimately die or don't get the attention they need to become a great project. Instead they just turn out to be an average one. If this effort and resources where willingly and consciously put together, that would probably not be the case.
Third, there are lots of great ideas out there from people who are not developers or simply don't have the time to put it in. Those ideas will take longer to crystallize, or probably, will never see the day of light because there was no one there to listen or pick up the ball. This is one of the best things about code52, they listen to people.
Yes, there is the Apache Software Foundation, others like it that provide an ecosystem by allowing projects into their incubation facilities. But I wouldn't call them friendly in the same way as these guys do, but more like an enabler architecture for more mature projects. Yes, they provide you with tools etc, however, to join the Apache Labs it is required that the podlings have an established and working codebase. It is then, that through the incubation process they are expected to grow and improve their communities.
This for me, addresses other areas of open source that are not directly related to development, which is more like what code52 tries to work on.
Fourth, we need more developers helping out to create and evolve open source software projects. Although there are initiatives like Google's Summer of Code and others, they are product, participants and community centered. What happens to the rest of the people who want to contribute the rest of the year?
Well, they don't know where to start. By they I mean, I wouldn't know where to start. I can see people having trouble finding a project they would be motivated to contribute to, because everything is so spread out and there is no way to easily sort and find that info.
Even if they do, people like me, who have never actively worked on an open source project, wouldn't be too clear on how they are supposed to join the production process. Add to that the lack of meaningful and updated documentation from which a lot of open source projects suffer. You have a recipe for alienation and disengagement.
Well... It is only reasonable to think then, that the easiest way to get over that, would be to start your own project, which suffers from the problems already mentioned.
Another thing that I like about the code52 initiative is that you can join their channel any time of the day and there will always be someone willing to put you up to speed, provide some guidelines, or useful insights. That, is just priceless. They have taken advantage of a platform of freely available communication a collaboration tools that support each other and make the development experience more fluent.
Also, the projects are small enough and targeted that it would be easy for someone with no expert knowledge to join in an contribute. Like they say, just grab one of the posts in the Trello board, and start coding or pop into the channel and provide some insight.
Although, as much as I am in love with the idea, there are some things that I can see people flagging as caveats. For instance, the technology most of the projects are being worked on (c# on the Microsoft stack). I think this is more of a by product of the background the main contributors have than anything else, and that the solution for this is simple, more contributors.
They have expressed several times that they would be willing to try other languages and platforms if there is enough interest, support and contributors. So if you are a hard-core coffeescript, ruby, python or *insert language here* developer, give it a try. Join in.
Another warning is that most projects being worked on so far, have a very hands on intention. Mostly tools with particular purposes. So right now I don't envision lots molecules simulation frameworks being born there.
Above all, code52 is a call to action and training ground that turns what-ifs into reality. The door, to who knows which other wonders like this one. Who knows, maybe I will get to see a code365.
Kudos to everyone behind it, supporting and helping out. I'm definitively looking forward to participate in this initiative! Are you?
If you work on software development, you know how difficult completing and actively working in one project can be. Open sourced or not, it demands a lot of energy and dedication. You can imagine then that attending to and starting one each week successfully, is a monumental task. Even more if you already have a day job. However, this guys are pulling it off and that's just astonishing.
The reason why I am so excited about this idea, is that it's a conscious and continuous well organized effort, to establish a mindset of contribution and collaboration among developers around the world. Let me explain what I mean.
While there are certainly lots of open source projects out there, most of them are born in a totally random way. That meaning, usually, someone has and itch they need to scratch, and that's how they come to be. This, as I see it, has a couple of disadvantages.
First, there is no systematic way of giving birth to projects, and while that in itself is not bad, it definitively doesn't help the growth and quality either.
Second, the fact that they get created in a disconnected way, most of the time means redundancy in effort and resources. By that I mean that lots of projects with the same ambitious objectives come to life, but due to lack of synergy or momentum, they ultimately die or don't get the attention they need to become a great project. Instead they just turn out to be an average one. If this effort and resources where willingly and consciously put together, that would probably not be the case.
Third, there are lots of great ideas out there from people who are not developers or simply don't have the time to put it in. Those ideas will take longer to crystallize, or probably, will never see the day of light because there was no one there to listen or pick up the ball. This is one of the best things about code52, they listen to people.
Yes, there is the Apache Software Foundation, others like it that provide an ecosystem by allowing projects into their incubation facilities. But I wouldn't call them friendly in the same way as these guys do, but more like an enabler architecture for more mature projects. Yes, they provide you with tools etc, however, to join the Apache Labs it is required that the podlings have an established and working codebase. It is then, that through the incubation process they are expected to grow and improve their communities.
This for me, addresses other areas of open source that are not directly related to development, which is more like what code52 tries to work on.
Fourth, we need more developers helping out to create and evolve open source software projects. Although there are initiatives like Google's Summer of Code and others, they are product, participants and community centered. What happens to the rest of the people who want to contribute the rest of the year?
Well, they don't know where to start. By they I mean, I wouldn't know where to start. I can see people having trouble finding a project they would be motivated to contribute to, because everything is so spread out and there is no way to easily sort and find that info.
Even if they do, people like me, who have never actively worked on an open source project, wouldn't be too clear on how they are supposed to join the production process. Add to that the lack of meaningful and updated documentation from which a lot of open source projects suffer. You have a recipe for alienation and disengagement.
Well... It is only reasonable to think then, that the easiest way to get over that, would be to start your own project, which suffers from the problems already mentioned.
Another thing that I like about the code52 initiative is that you can join their channel any time of the day and there will always be someone willing to put you up to speed, provide some guidelines, or useful insights. That, is just priceless. They have taken advantage of a platform of freely available communication a collaboration tools that support each other and make the development experience more fluent.
Also, the projects are small enough and targeted that it would be easy for someone with no expert knowledge to join in an contribute. Like they say, just grab one of the posts in the Trello board, and start coding or pop into the channel and provide some insight.
Although, as much as I am in love with the idea, there are some things that I can see people flagging as caveats. For instance, the technology most of the projects are being worked on (c# on the Microsoft stack). I think this is more of a by product of the background the main contributors have than anything else, and that the solution for this is simple, more contributors.
They have expressed several times that they would be willing to try other languages and platforms if there is enough interest, support and contributors. So if you are a hard-core coffeescript, ruby, python or *insert language here* developer, give it a try. Join in.
Another warning is that most projects being worked on so far, have a very hands on intention. Mostly tools with particular purposes. So right now I don't envision lots molecules simulation frameworks being born there.
Above all, code52 is a call to action and training ground that turns what-ifs into reality. The door, to who knows which other wonders like this one. Who knows, maybe I will get to see a code365.
Kudos to everyone behind it, supporting and helping out. I'm definitively looking forward to participate in this initiative! Are you?
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