00:36:06 #startmeeting PearlHacks2016-TechTalk 00:36:06 Meeting started Sun Apr 3 00:36:06 2016 UTC. The chair is decause. Information about MeetBot at http://wiki.debian.org/MeetBot. 00:36:06 Useful Commands: #action #agreed #halp #info #idea #link #topic. 00:36:06 The meeting name has been set to 'pearlhacks2016-techtalk' 00:36:16 #topic How Open Source Works 00:36:23 Open source is taking over teh world 00:36:26 Open source is a cookie 00:36:32 a delicious chocolate chip cookie 00:36:41 it is better than just any cookie 00:36:45 it comes with a recipe card 00:36:50 that tells you what went into the cookies 00:37:08 doesn't anyone here know anyone with alergies or dietary restrictions? 00:37:16 everybody does, right? 00:37:38 the nice thing about getting these cookies from your friends is you can actually look and say "eww, almonds, those will kill me." 00:37:41 or 00:37:48 "hey, I'd like raisins in this" 00:38:00 you can always add raisins, make your own verison of the cookie 00:38:03 furthermore, and better yet 00:38:22 you can take your new-and-improved cookies, and distribute those to your friends with the recipe 00:38:28 Open source means: 00:38:31 1) You can look at th recipe 00:38:37 2) You can change the recipe 00:38:46 3) you can redistribute the recipe 00:38:57 You may like Oreos 00:39:12 but if you run out of them on a late night, you can't make more of them 00:39:15 you have to go buy more of them 00:39:39 or if Nabisco decides to stop making your favorite triple-stuff oreos, you can't get them anymore 00:39:50 we call that "vendor lock-in" 00:39:58 the vendor decides, and you can't do anyting about it 00:40:00 sure 00:40:11 there is an ingredients list, but it isn't a recipe 00:40:21 you cannot examine it like you can the cookies your friend made you 00:40:32 #topic Open Source is like a car 00:40:44 Would you buy a car with the hood welded shut? 00:40:46 no way! 00:41:09 what would happen if your radiator sprung a leak? or something else went wrong? 00:41:16 you couldn't do anything, cause the hood is welded shut 00:41:20 you couldn't fix it yourself 00:41:39 but when you buy proprietary software, we think it's ok? 00:41:45 we find this mysterious, and amazing 00:42:00 I've been thinking about this slide 00:42:07 sometimes there are stickers now on products 00:42:15 "No user-serviceable parts inside" 00:42:29 "warranty voided if seal is broken" 00:42:36 that didn't used to be so common 00:42:42 #topic Open Innovation 00:42:53 if you were to zoom out from Open Source Software, you find innovation 00:43:03 the idea of copyright, and patent, and trademark 00:43:11 those are relatively new 00:43:18 Open Innovation is building on the ideas of others 00:43:22 you don't start from scratch 00:43:30 you start from where the last person's experiments left off 00:43:37 that is how acadmics works 00:43:43 if we work together, we are smarter 00:43:51 what are teh core concepts of open innovation? 00:43:53 1) Share 00:43:57 2) Collaboration 00:44:12 3) Publication? 00:44:19 we're taught to share from the beginning 00:44:53 collaboration is 'the more people working on a problem, the better your solution will be" 00:45:00 "two heads are better than one" 00:45:04 3) Remix 00:45:10 you all have grown up in a remix culture 00:45:27 you've never not known a time when you couldn't add filters and stickers to pictures, or download and modify files 00:45:30 that is the entire idea 00:45:38 you take thing A, and thing B, and they are better 00:45:51 the whole is greater than the sum of the parts 00:46:00 you folks have a better handle on remix than many folks my age 00:46:12 I can't turn on the radio, and not hear a snippet of a song I recognize 00:46:20 #topic Terminology 00:46:29 these words are important 00:46:49 1) Copyright - The legal rights granted to the creator of an original work by law 00:46:55 #info Copyright - The legal rights granted to the creator of an original work by law 00:47:25 #info Legalese - A cryptic Language used by lawyers which seems to resemble English from a distance, but is not actually English. 00:47:58 #info Software License - A document written in Legalese which tells the user what they can (and cannot) do with the software they possess. 00:48:42 * takes a break for everyone to write a haiku or make a doodle 00:49:14 a work of art, any work of art, a haiku, a doodle, a song you sing into the voice recorder 00:49:23 it is copyrighted the moment you fix it into a medium 00:49:35 a notebook or cocktail napkin, or doodle on a wall (dont do that though) 00:49:38 it is copyrighted 00:49:46 you don't need to put the (c) next to it, or tell the gov't 00:49:51 it is copyrighted automatically 00:50:01 you need a picture of an icecream sunday 00:50:30 so you google, and you searched for an image, found one, and copy/pasted it into your presentation 00:50:38 did you just use a copyrighted image? 00:50:39 yes 00:50:46 but there are some exceptions where you can use it 00:51:06 some images can be released from copyright after it has been public for certain length of time 00:51:28 Software Licenses - you download the installer, you run it, and then what happens? 00:51:44 a pop-up of pages and pages of text that tells you what you can and cannot do with it 00:52:00 the Terms and Conditions (TOS) say very particularly what you can run it for 00:52:11 companies pay lawyers a great deal of money to write these terms and conditions 00:52:19 then, we get to this amazing magic trick 00:52:25 #topic Best Legal Hack Ever 00:52:41 This suite, or bunch of Open Source Licenses 00:52:46 there are lots of them 00:52:55 but you may only run into like 10-20 regularly 00:53:08 they make it really easy to telling someone what they can do, in addition to running the software 00:53:17 you can download run change and redistribute teh code 00:53:32 there are 2 main kinds of Free/Open Source Software licenses 00:53:43 they have different names, depending on which ones you like 00:53:54 Viral Licenses, or Copyleft licenses 00:54:16 they require that not only can you do all those things, but that when you do redistribute the software, you do it under the same license you got it with 00:54:25 it keeps the software Free 00:54:45 the most popular example of a non-copyleft license is the MIT license 00:55:03 you can take it, and change the license, and even close up your code 00:55:14 whehter people will pay for it is another story 00:55:26 #topic Why is it a big deal? 00:55:32 Why do we care? 00:56:14 this is a graphic, of a movie that is a parody of big business (with Vince Vaughn) 00:56:33 it i scolored about 90%, because about 90% of businesses use Open Source Software 00:56:41 all 50 states use Open Source Software 00:56:54 6 out of 8 devs will work with Open Source Software in their career 00:57:01 even in a proprietary company 00:57:05 you'll probably use it one way or another 00:57:22 #topic Why do Businesses use Open Source Software? 00:57:33 Blackduck in 2007 did a survey 00:57:41 responses were mostly "low cost" 00:57:49 in 2013, it was "higher quality" 00:57:54 that is a huge change 00:58:06 it used to be LInux was mostly used in places to cut corners or pinch pennies 00:58:18 now it is thought of as more secure and faster moving 00:58:21 in academics 00:58:26 if you do research in graduate school 00:58:36 one thing that is intersting to me is "open access" 00:58:43 Open Source, applied to publications 00:59:15 Research should not be locked up behind paywalls in journals 00:59:41 in my former job, many of hte people we worked with, they were in Africa and India, and places that didn't have large amounts of bandwidth 00:59:45 but needed the updated information more 00:59:55 and weren't going to conferences each year like in the US 01:00:06 so you'd have to subscribe to these journals 01:00:31 and we, at my non-profit, were looking at ways to get that research into the hands of these needful folks, without running awry of the copyright laws 01:00:52 the cost of journals have skyrocketed 01:01:07 there is a CHemistry journal that costs $40K/year 01:01:18 libraries cannot keep up with the costs of current knowlege 01:01:20 in some cases 01:01:29 #topic How is Open Source different? 01:01:44 The open source principles, there are 5 of them, and you see them phrased in diff ways in lots of places 01:01:47 they are familiar 01:02:01 #info Open Exchange - share info so people can find it. Things should be transparent 01:02:18 #info Participation - When we are free to collaborate, we create. 01:02:47 #info Rapid Prototyping - Release early and often. Can lead to rapid failure, bu tthat leads to rapid fixes. Fail fast, fail forward. 01:03:10 #info Meritocracy - The best ideas win. This may be the last time you are in a meritocracy in school 01:03:47 what matters in class is whether you know the material, or know the right answers. it doesn't matter what clothes you wear, or what your name is, or you're the obnoxious person raising your hand every 2 minutes (I was) it only matters that you konw the material 01:03:51 the right answer wins 01:04:05 when you get into the land of corporate, that is not the truth, and it was a rude awakening for me 01:04:11 my first job was at a big TelCo company 01:04:23 I was the only person who knew the web in 1994 at the company 01:04:35 I was flown to Canada for my first big meeting, with all these VP's 01:04:54 one said "we can do this thing on the website in a complicated and expensive way" 01:05:11 I said "I think we can do it in an easier way, and it will give you the same thing" 01:05:19 I thought I saved a bunch of money for the company 01:05:21 but 01:05:55 the next break, i got pulled into the hall, and my VP, a woman said "Don't ever do that again. that was a good idea, but you can't speak up like that again. You have to go through the right channels." 01:06:05 write an email, pass a note, but don't speak up 01:06:36 I spent the next 6 years trying to figure out how to be me in a corporate environment, where I'm loud, and opinionated, and cannot stand to see something done wrong. 01:06:39 I learned 01:06:43 I learned how to befriend the right people 01:06:46 how to present your ideas 01:06:52 to build support behind the scenes 01:07:04 to make sure everyone knows what you're going to say before you say it to everyone 01:07:09 I learned 01:07:37 but in many big companies, it is not a meritocracy, it is a hierarchy 01:07:54 it doesn't matter if it is the worst idea ever. if the VP says we're doing it this way, we do it that way 01:07:57 by contrast 01:08:05 I was at my first meeting at Red Hat 01:08:09 flown up to Boston 01:08:15 the CTO says, we're going to do this 01:08:17 I'm a peon 01:08:36 and another peon says "that is a stupid idea, it won't work because XYZ" 01:08:42 CTO says "tell me more bout that" 01:08:51 my heart was pounding 01:08:55 I thought that person would get fired 01:09:00 they didn't 01:09:01 the best ideas win 01:09:10 there is a company wide mailing list 01:09:14 where everyone is there, listening 01:09:18 all the way up to the CEO 01:09:35 the best idea wins, whether it comes from the bottom, or the top 01:09:46 #info Community - together we can do more 01:10:03 #topic Community Centric Model 01:10:08 We have these communities 01:10:12 upstream communities 01:10:21 Remy in the back 01:10:30 he works as the Fedora COmmunity Lead 01:10:33 hearding cats 01:10:37 to shepherd the work along 01:10:44 you can join Fedora development community tonight 01:10:46 anyone can 01:10:52 Fedora eventually turns into RHEL 01:10:57 and that is what we sell support for 01:11:05 that is guaranteed to work for 7-10 years 01:11:09 that happens because 01:11:15 Fedora works really quickly 01:11:23 released every 6 months, give or take 01:11:31 and RHEL is released every 2-3 years, give or take 01:11:58 and then RHEL takes the best parts of Fedora, tested in every which way, and then packages them 01:12:04 those things turn into the downstream product 01:12:18 lets say you heard we are a good company, and you wanna come work here 01:12:28 the quickest tracks into Red Hat, are often working on Upstream Projects 01:12:43 if you already know how to do engineering in Fedora, it is not too far a stretch to think you can do it in RHEL too 01:13:05 there is a community of lots of people, working on this thing, and you can work on it first, and then get paid to work on it! 01:13:08 doubleplusgood 01:13:14 #topic Getting Involved 01:13:18 how do you start? 01:13:25 the quickest and easiest way, is to fix a bug 01:13:32 OpenHatch is an org that tracks bugs 01:13:42 they keep track of the type of the bug, and what technology it relates to 01:13:46 you can go and browse for a bug 01:14:11 and then each bug also has a mentor assigned to it, so that if you get stuck, there is someone you can ask for help 01:14:14 it is a great way to get started 01:14:30 if you want to jump into a big project where you meet lots of people,a nd get a bigger picture 01:14:40 it has been my experience, and the experience of some profs we've worked with 01:14:49 that Humanitarian FOSS projects are good ones to work with 01:15:00 becuase they are out to do good, and friendly to new contirbutors 01:15:19 Ushahidi, OpenMRS, Sahana, GNOME 01:15:41 medical records systems are very expensive 01:15:51 but developing countries need to have systems 01:16:11 so, OpenMRS helps doctors in those countries 01:16:36 MouseTrap is a project that tracks your eye movements, so that if you cannot use a mouse, it will control the pointer by eye movement 01:16:51 accessibility projects are often very friendly to new-comers too 01:17:00 #topic Starting your own project 01:17:04 it is hardest probably 01:17:05 but 01:17:17 when you're building an open source project, the first thing you do is release the code 01:17:24 and the second thing is getting your second contributor 01:17:33 when you tell the story of how you got there 01:17:42 I wanted to do this, but it didn't work, so I tried that 01:17:54 when the next person comes thorugh, they see that project's history, andyour project's personality 01:17:59 and then you spend less time explaining 01:18:03 blog about what your'e doing 01:18:08 put your code on a forge 01:18:11 github or elsewhere 01:18:15 put an open license on it 01:18:19 and build your community 01:18:20 how? 01:18:29 reach out to like minded people 01:19:01 use open data so other can contribute to it, and use an open API so people can use it 01:19:15 #link http://www.theopensourceway.org 01:19:27 it is a book/website that tells you how to do this stuff right 01:19:34 #topic QandA 01:20:16 Q: How do you get started? 01:20:24 A: Anyone can fix a documentation bug. 01:20:34 all projects, in theory, should have instructions for installation 01:20:42 if you cannot follow those instructions, file a bug 01:20:54 for most open source projects, the docs themselves can be a place to contribute 01:21:01 fixing typos counts bigtime 01:21:09 it builds your cred 01:21:29 when I started working on Open Source, one of the projects was launching a new website 01:21:37 I knew websites, so that is what I started with 01:21:42 that was my contribution 01:23:15 if you're interested in a project, go to a project, go through their docs, and if they don't work, file a bug 01:24:01 the fella who did the GitHub seminar today, David, he wrote his own musical programming language 01:24:09 he 'scratched his own itch' 01:26:34 * decause talks about Outreachy and OpenHatch 01:27:03 Karen Sandler, who helps run Outreachy, I saw her speak at a conference 01:27:14 I told her I wanted to speak at a conference, but didn't know if I had much to say 01:27:34 everyone was giving technical talks, and all I know was web strategy, and I figured no one wanted to hear that 01:27:41 Karen said "you're talking now" 01:27:48 I spoke at 15 big conferences last year 01:27:56 because Karen helped to support me 01:28:08 #endmeetingt 01:28:11 #endmeeting