Real World HFOSS Projects. Engaging Students. Ralph Morelli. Trinity College, Hartford, CT, USA. Middle Tennessee State University

Transcription

1 Engaging Students in Real World HFOSS Projects Ralph Morelli Trinity College, Hartford, CT, USA Middle Tennessee State University June 25, 2009 This work is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-Share Alike 3.0 United States License. To view a copy of this license, visit

2 Outline The Humanitarian FOSS Project What is FOSS H-FOSS Projects H-FOSS Courses Observations/Pitfalls Discussion

3 The Humanitarian FOSS Project Slide: 3 The Humanitarian-FOSS Project Middle Tennessee State University, June 25, 2009

4 Motivation Let s help our neighbors! Let s join the open source movement! Credit: David Patterson, former ACM President NSF Grant ( ) Can these joint initiatives help revitalize undergraduate computing education? Slide: 4 The Humanitarian-FOSS Project Middle Tennessee State University, June 25, 2009

5 NSF/CPATH Grant Goal: Get undergraduates building H-FOSS. Chapters: Trinity College, Connecticut College, Wesleyan University. Projects Global/International: Sahana, OpenMRS, POSIT, InSTEDD Local/Regional: Hartford Public Library, Ronald McDonald House New: GNOME, Mozilla (anticipated) Courses FOSS Software engineering. FOSS 101. FOSS application programming. FOSS independent studies and senior thesis projects. Summer Institute: 2008/2009: 10 week H-FOSS internships. Community Building Annual symposium on curriculum. Slide: 5 The Humanitarian-FOSS Project Middle Tennessee State University, June 25, 2009

6 Community Building Effort Computing Departments Teach computing Build FOSS Gain skills and opportunities The Humanitarian FOSS Project FOSS & IT Communities Host interns Fund and advertise Volunteer expertise Recruit students Humanitarian Community Acquire software. Host interns Teach volunteerism Slide: 6 The Humanitarian-FOSS Project Middle Tennessee State University, June 25, 2009

7 NSF/CPATH Part II (we hope) Goal #1: Grow and broaden the community Create N new H-FOSS Chapters. Women's colleges, traditionally black schools, research universities, community colleges. Example: HFOSS@MTSU.org?? Goal #2: HFOSS Certificate Program Lightweight FOSS Curriculum. Courses, independent studies, internships. Tied to school's curriculum. Grand vision (with corporate support): A Google Summer-of-code like community where students anywhere can join HFOSS projects anywhere. Slide: 7 The Humanitarian-FOSS Project Middle Tennessee State University, June 25, 2009

8 What is FOSS? Slide: 8 The Humanitarian-FOSS Project Middle Tennessee State University, June 25, 2009

9 Free software is freedom to run the program. study how the program works. share copies with your neighbor. improve the program to benefit the community. Free software is a matter of liberty, not price. [It is] free as in free speech, not as in free beer. (Richard Stallman, The Free Software Definition, ~1983) Slide: 9 The Humanitarian-FOSS Project Middle Tennessee State University, June 25, 2009

10 Linux... is the kernel of GNU/Linux. built on Stallman s GNU (Gnu is Not Unix) Project. started as a hobby project in generated a community of 1000s of developers. Hello everybody out there using minix - I'm doing a (free) operating system (just a hobby, won't be big and professional like GNU)... (Linus Torvald, Usenet post, 1991) Slide: 10 The Humanitarian-FOSS Project Middle Tennessee State University, June 25, 2009

11 FOSS development is... community based. non-hierarchical. open and transparent. a meritocracy based on peer review. closely tied to users ( release early and often ). Given enough eyeballs all bugs are shallow. (Eric Steven Raymond, The Cathedral and the Bazaar) Slide: 11 The Humanitarian-FOSS Project Middle Tennessee State University, June 25, 2009

12 FOSS licenses are maintained by the Free Software Foundation and the Open Source Institute. number between Bruce Perens OSI Co-founder Source: David Wheeler, The F/LOSS Slide, 2007 Slide: 12 The Humanitarian-FOSS Project Middle Tennessee State University, June 25, 2009

13 How is FOSS Doing? Slide: 13 The Humanitarian-FOSS Project Middle Tennessee State University, June 25, 2009

14 Growth of Open Source Projects Sourceforge.net -- the largest open source repository. Sourceforge Users Sourceforge Projects Users Projects Years Years Million Members 173,000 + Projects Source: Morelli unpublished, 2007 Slide: 14 The Humanitarian-FOSS Project Middle Tennessee State University, June 25, 2009

15 Free vs. Proprietary Blake Ross Bill Gates Free and Open Closed and proprietary Source: net applications (May, 2009) Slide: 15 The Humanitarian-FOSS Project Middle Tennessee State University, June 25, 2009

16 Many Large Successful Projects Supporters Slide: 16 The Humanitarian-FOSS Project Middle Tennessee State University, June 25, 2009

17 Server Market Share All Domains Source: news.netcraft.com (June 2009) Slide: 17 The Humanitarian-FOSS Project Middle Tennessee State University, June 25, 2009

18 Market Share - Million Busiest Sites Source: news.netcraft.com (June 2009) Slide: 18 The Humanitarian-FOSS Project Middle Tennessee State University, June 25, 2009

19 FOSS in Government Brazil adopts open source (BBC, June 2005). French Gendarmerie moved from MS to Ubuntu saving an estimated 50 million Euros since 2004 (OSOR-EU, 2009). Vietnam: By July 2009 of clients of gov't IT must use FOSS, including OpenOffice and Mozilla. (VietnamNet, Jan. 2009). UK: Gov't backs FOSS to avoid lock in (BBC, Feb. 2009). Amsterdam: Gov't makes OpenOffice and Firefox default. (OSOR.EU, April 2009). US: Sen. John D. Rockefeller proposes law to use FOSS and open standards for electronic medical records (ArsTechnia, April 2009). (March 2009: Microsoft Patent Suit Against Tom Tom) Slide: 19 The Humanitarian-FOSS Project Middle Tennessee State University, June 25, 2009

20 Humanitarian FOSS Projects Slide: 20 The Humanitarian-FOSS Project Middle Tennessee State University, June 25, 2009

21 Sahana - Disaster Management Web-based information system. Started by Sri Lankan volunteers in aftermath of Asian Tsunami Deployments Sri Lanka Tsunami (2005) Pakistan earthquake (2005) Philippine mudslide (2006) Indonesia earthquake (2006) Peru earthquake (2007) Myanmar cyclone (2008) China earthquake (2008)! Free Software Award for Social Benefit (2007). 38,000+ Sourceforge downloads since Sahana means relief in Sinhalese Slide: 21 The Humanitarian-FOSS Project Middle Tennessee State University, June 25, 2009

22 Camp Registry Slide: 22 The Humanitarian-FOSS Project Middle Tennessee State University, June 25, 2009

23 Missing Person Registry Slide: 23 The Humanitarian-FOSS Project Middle Tennessee State University, June 25, 2009

24 Sahana - Our Contribution Volunteer Management (VM) module ( ) Collaboration with Accenture volunteers Manages volunteers during a recovery effort. Trinity, Wesleyan, and Connecticut College students. Accepted into Sahana in Deployments and Branches: NYC, Office of Emergency Management, disaster preparedness. Galveston TX, disaster preparedness. VMOSS (Standalone VM) over 600 downloads in 1 year. Used as a teaching tool in undergraduate courses. Slide: 24 The Humanitarian-FOSS Project Middle Tennessee State University, June 25, 2009

25 Volunteer Management Module May 2008, China Deployment Chengdu, Colombo, NYC, Hartford collaboration. Blog: Slide: 25 The Humanitarian-FOSS Project Middle Tennessee State University, June 25, 2009

26 NYC Office of Emergency Management OEM Sahana System evacuate 600,000 from coastal areas. IBM Subcontract with Respere, The Sahana Company Summer 2007, Respere modifies the VM Module. Summer 2008, OEM hires HFOSS students to customize. Fall 2008, Galveston TX downloads system from NCY-OEM. Summer 2009: OEM's Virtual Emergency Operation Center Slide: 26 The Humanitarian-FOSS Project Middle Tennessee State University, June 25, 2009

27 NYC VOAD Table Top Exercise, June 11, 2009 The [HFOSS] team has been fantastic and I think this is as polished a product as you could ask for. It's going to do a lot of good and help many, many people. Slide: 27 The Humanitarian-FOSS Project Middle Tennessee State University, June 25, 2009

28 Portable Open Search Identification Tool Mobile Tool: Victim Search and Rescue Google Android FOSS Open Handset Alliance Phone, GPS, Camera, WiFi, Compass Mobile adhoc network (MANET) Linkoping University RTS Lab (Sweden) code.google.com/p/posit-android Slide: 28 The Humanitarian-FOSS Project Middle Tennessee State University, June 25, 2009

29 Slide: 29 A Design Session The Humanitarian-FOSS Project Middle Tennessee State University, June 25, 2009

30 Slide: 30 Middle Tennessee State University, June 25, 2009 Testing the MANET The Humanitarian-FOSS Project

31 UI Design (CS1??) Confirm on exit. Flag Input errors. Slide: 31 The Humanitarian-FOSS Project Middle Tennessee State University, June 25, 2009

32 A walk around campus MCEC Slide: 32 The Humanitarian-FOSS Project Middle Tennessee State University, June 25, 2009

33 GPS fix accuracy Slide: 33 The Humanitarian-FOSS Project Middle Tennessee State University, June 25, 2009

34 Sample density map Slide: 34 The Humanitarian-FOSS Project Middle Tennessee State University, June 25, 2009

35 Open Medical Record System Electronic Medical Record System started in Developed by Partners in Health and Regenstrief Institute. Goal: Self-sustaining health IT for developing world. Implementations: Rwanda, Kenya, South Africa, Lesotho, Zimbabwe, Mozambique, Uganda, Tanzania, Haiti. Supporters: WHO, CDC, Rockefeller Foundation, Google Summer of Code. Slide: 35 The Humanitarian-FOSS Project Middle Tennessee State University, June 25, 2009

36 Open Medical Record System Rwinkwavu Hospital, Rwanda, Oct. 07 Slide: 36 The Humanitarian-FOSS Project Middle Tennessee State University, June 25, 2009

37 Touchscreen Module Slide: 37 The Humanitarian-FOSS Project Middle Tennessee State University, June 25, 2009

38 OpenMRS Our Contributions H-FOSS Summer Institute 2007, 2008, 2009 Touchscreen Toolkit (Giovanni Capalbo, Trinity, '08) Sourceforge: AutoTouch, 70+ downloads Image capture and upload (Rachel Foecking, Trinity '11) Non-numeric data representation (Vinit Agrawal, Trinity '10) Teaching/development platform in software engineering course. Summer 2009: (Sam de Fabbia-Kane, Wesleyan '11) Slide: 38 The Humanitarian-FOSS Project Middle Tennessee State University, June 25, 2009

39 Ronald McDonald House Project Allen Tucker, Bowdoin College, Emeritus Spring 2008 Software Development Course Slide: 39 The Humanitarian-FOSS Project Middle Tennessee State University, June 25, 2009

40 Humanitarian FOSS Courses Slide: 40 The Humanitarian-FOSS Project Middle Tennessee State University, June 25, 2009

41 Examples: Software Engineering/Development Fall 2008 Wesleyan University (TCW) OpenMRS Spring 2008 University of Hartford Literacy Volunteers of Greater Hartford Spring 2008 Bowdoin College Ronald McDonald House, Portland, ME Spring 2007 Trinity College (TCW) Sahana, VMOSS Repository Slide: 41 The Humanitarian-FOSS Project Middle Tennessee State University, June 25, 2009

42 Examples: Independent Study Fall 2006 Trinity College Sahana Development Fall 2007 Trinity College (TCW) Miscellaneous projects Spring 2008 Trinity College Giovanni Capalbo Senior Thesis Spring 2009 Trinity College AppTrac: Hartford Public Library Project Repository Slide: 42 The Humanitarian-FOSS Project Middle Tennessee State University, June 25, 2009

43 Example: FOSS 101 Spring 2007, Fall 2009, Spring 2010 CS0 general education course. No prerequisites. Math distribution credit. Goals: Introduce programming in a FOSS context. Engage students in discussion of the FOSS impact on society. Get students to see the relevance of CS to their lives. Slide: 43 The Humanitarian-FOSS Project Middle Tennessee State University, June 25, 2009

44 The 101 Pitch: We.....use good quality FOSS every day...like the freedom and openness of the Internet...think that Internet content should remain free...share stuff with their friends for free. BUT We don't realize that all (a lot) of this stuff is based on something CS invented: FOSS! Slide: 44 The Humanitarian-FOSS Project Middle Tennessee State University, June 25, 2009

45 Jimmy (Jimbo) Wales invented Ward Cunningham Inventor of Wiki software Sharing what we know for free. Slide: 45 The Humanitarian-FOSS Project Middle Tennessee State University, June 25, 2009

46 What do these programs do? Ares Galaxy emule Blue Poison Dart Frog (Dendrobates azureus) 1.2 Billion Sourceforge Downloads!! Slide: 46 The Humanitarian-FOSS Project Middle Tennessee State University, June 25, 2009

47 Example: FOSS 301 Software engineering or development course. CS1 and/or CS2 prerequisites. Engage in a real FOSS project. Sahana OpenMRS Mozilla Needed: Mentors from the FOSS community. Sharing and collaborative in-class culture. Working in teams (communities). Slide: 47 The Humanitarian-FOSS Project Middle Tennessee State University, June 25, 2009

48 Classroom culture: Sharing and Collaboration Computational assignments are displayed, discussed openly. Students are encouraged to help each other and share their solutions and insights. Students work in teams on programming and writing assignments (documentation, blogs, wikis). Students play a role in grading (peer-to-peer). Professors learn stuff from students. Slide: 48 The Humanitarian-FOSS Project Middle Tennessee State University, June 25, 2009

49 Pitfalls Messy this is the real world. What if Students don't meet project goals? Software bugs emerge next semester? Organization doesn't adopt the software? For faculty Extra work and effort. Outside comfort zone learning from students? Need development time and support. Publish or perish. Slide: 49 The Humanitarian-FOSS Project Middle Tennessee State University, June 25, 2009

50 Conclusions FOSS methodology is a significant development. It should be incorporated into undergraduate curricula. It can be incorporated at different levels. It helps to have a community. Humanitarian focus is attractive to students. FOSS movement has broad societal implications. Freedom and Openness everywhere. Interdisciplinary opportunities: Economics (microfinance), politics (grass roots movements), media It's fun! Slide: 50 The Humanitarian-FOSS Project Middle Tennessee State University, June 25, 2009

51 Thank you! ( Slide: 51 The Humanitarian-FOSS Project Middle Tennessee State University, June 25, 2009