Softpanorama
(slightly skeptical) Open Source Software Educational Society

May the source be with you, but remember the KISS principle ;-)

Softpanorama Search

Problems of Open Source Software:
(slightly skeptical) Annotated Chronicle

Open Source Software Development as a Special Type of Academic Research

(Research Materials for the Paper. Closed as of 08/2000)

Thematic Index

OSS in developing countries

 Donald Knuth

Linus Torvalds

 Richard Stallman

Larry Wall

 Algorithms Halloween
Computer Science Skeptics Links Critique of Vulgar Raymondism Linux under fire (Solaris, FreeBSD,
low quality concerns, etc.)		 OSS Midas Touch GPL and copyright issues Mindcraft Saga Netscape5 saga

Chronological Index

1993 1994 1995 1996 1997 1998 1999 2000

I consider open source as a software engineering phenomenon, not only social phenomenon -- the idea of free co-development of (probably large) program system on the Internet.  So a lot of interesting things about open source are connected with the idea of distributed cooperation. This cooperation is not simple and to me looks much like scientific cooperation. It has a lot of problems, but it proved to be successful in several important areas.  This is my personal attempt to survive an  information overload in this interesting for me area.  The main area of interest are problems of OSS and how they can be solved -- this is mainly research materials to the paper on OSS problems that I am working.

Again this is just research materials and as such they are very raw.  I have no time to make them any better...

This is a chronicle and in essence it's an anti-slashdot attempt -- the attempt to filter information, not to add to news stories by stimulation of discussions around news selected by Slashdot founders and their trusted lieutenants. Information can be posted here long after the date it occurred. Content may shrink as the event proved to be not as significant as it was thought initially.

All citations are explicitly for academic review and research only. Copyright related issues are covered separately. There is also a special "Critique of Vulgar Raymondism page"  devoted to my paper ;-) A lot of additional material is collected in the Portraits of OpenSource Peoneers, especially in the Linus Torvalds part (it contains a large collection of interviews for example see Linus Torvalds Interviews index; some of early interviews are unique and are no longer available elsewhere on the WEB). See also the thematic index.

Several interesting timelines are available :

For more information see  Linux Today -- the major Linux news site.

Nikolai Bezroukov

Copyright © 1996-2009 by Dr. Nikolai Bezroukov. www.softpanorama.org was created as a service to the UN Sustainable Development Networking Programme (SDNP) in the author free time. Submit comments This document is an industrial compilation designed and created exclusively for educational use and is placed under the copyright of the Open Content License(OPL). Site uses AdSense so you need to be aware of Google privacy policy. Original materials copyright belong to respective owners. Quotes are made for educational purposes only in compliance with the fair use doctrine.

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Created June 1, 1998; Last modified: April 26, 2008