TP 101: Introduction to Open Source Software

This course includes a collection of some open source software related learning materials and will walk you through some of the key concepts of open source.

Important note: Introduction to Open Source Software is in an alpha state. Its scope is limited. If you are taking it now you are brave, but you are also an early tester and your feedback is greatly appreciated. You are encouraged to reporting bugs, suggest changes, update the contents, etc. See Contributing Guidefor more details.

Who this is for

Anyone interesed in open source

What you will learn?

what open source software is
the history of open source software and what benefits it has provided to the world’s technology infrastructure over the decades
different licensing models that are available, as this will help you decide what the best license is for your project.
open source organizations and the roles of foundations in open source projects

Prerequisites:

None. This course is a great introduction for you to learn open source.

Course details

Chapter 1: Open Source Overview

Learning Materials:

What is Open Source explained in LEGO, a video made by Socialsquare, can help you easily understand the idea of Open Source, even for people with no prior knowledge of Open Source or Free Software.
6 pivotal moments in open source history, a blog written by Dave Neary, can help you learn about the key moments in the history of open source.
Why Open Source, a blog written by Ben Balter, listed many reasons why you might consider consuming, publishing, collaborating on, or supporting open source.
Open Source vs. Closed Source Software, a video where you can learn about the differences between open-source software and closed-source software
The Future of Open Source? | When Open Source gets monetized, a video talks about what the future of open source looks like.

Chapter 2: Open Source Licenses

Learning Materials:

Licenses & Standards shows the general accepted licenses, which has undergone rigorous review by the open source legal community.
Open Source Licenses Comparison [Guide] gives an effective Open Source licenses comparison. With Open Source licenses explained there, it should help you choose the right Open Source license for your project.
The Legal Side of Open Source tells everything you've ever wondered about the legal side of open source, and a few things you didn't.

Chapter 3: Open Source Organizations

Learning Materials:

Open source organizations listed some open source organizations providing processes for managing intellectual property, accepting financial contributions, and other infrastructure and stewardship that growing projects need, such as Apache Software Foundation, Cloud Native Computing Foundation, Linux Foundation, and so on.
The Role of Foundations in Open Source Projects, a blog posted by Javier Cánovas, who studied the role of foundations in open source software development with his/her friends, and found that very few foundations are devoted to providing complete support to the projects they endorse, and that their mission is more directed towards providing legal support and leading evangelizing actions.

Suggeted Assignments

You can self-test your learning outcomes by drawing a mindmap of (either of them) :

open source history
pros and cons of open source
how to choose an open source license

The mindmap is encourged to be submitted by creating a pull request to the this course. Learn how to create a pull request in TP 102: How to Use Git and GitHub

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Acknowledgement

Special Thanks to Jamie Xu, Lillian Li, Ran Huang, and Weiwei Wang for testing this course and updating the materials