gforge presentation v2

Open Source Application Development Using GForge : 

Open Source Application Development Using GForge Joseph Hanauer, Booz Allen Hamilton

The Cathedral and The Bazaar: 

The Cathedral and The Bazaar The first years of caBIG™ was spent starting and nurturing a community community. It was an inwardly focused effort; however, as we approach year three the focus shifts outwardly towards engaging the greater community. Instead of the structured rigid practices of traditional hierarchical Cathedral development efforts, Open Source communities foster the “Bazaar” model for software development where participation is open to everyone and whereby this openness leads to a dramatic exchange of ideas and produces surprisingly stable software.

Key Tenants of the Bazaar: 

Key Tenants of the Bazaar Key Tenants of the Bazaar include: Release Early, Release Often People are more apt to solve problems that are interesting to them. Many Eyeballs Tame Complexity Generally active, alive projects are worth more than inactive, dead projects

Open Source Communities: 

Open Source Communities Open source communities aid in the exchange of ideas necessary for a bazaar style development effort to be successful. They provide tools for source and file versioning, bug tracking, and discussion archiving to preserve and publish the history of creating that software. Sourceforge.net is the internet’s best example today with over 100,000 active projects. (http://sourceforge.net). Popular open source projects include the JBoss J2EE application server, the GAIM instant messenger clone, and TortoiseCVS.

GForge: 

GForge GForge is an implementation of the SourceForge model and will be hosted by NCICB. GForge offers unified home for all caBIG™ projects. The caBIG™ GForge implementation is accessible at http://gforge.nci.nih.gov and can be browsed by anyone. The implementation is currently in a beta state This transparency is a large step towards a truly open community.

Navigating GForge: 

Navigating GForge This Is the GForge Home Page, from here you can click on “Project Tree” to search the trove map.

Navigating GForge (cont.): 

Navigating GForge (cont.) The Trove Map allows navigation to Workspaces and projects by browsing by caBIG, then by individual workspaces, and finally to a specific project group. 1 2 3

Navigating GForge (cont.): 

Navigating GForge (cont.) Project pages are listed under the project category in the trove map. Since caBIG™ produces interdependent software projects that work together, many projects can be listed under the same heading. For example, both Q5 and RProteomics show up under the RProteomics project group.

Home Page: 

Home Page The Home page is the entry point for a project and provides pertinent project details

Forums: 

Forums Forums provide a mechanism to capture knowledge exchange and to show that the project is still “alive.” Forums allow outside users to post questions, comments, and concerns. This is a great spot to catalogue installation experiences as this will be one of the first places users go to troubleshoot. An active user base can be very rewarding in understanding how users utilize your software.

Tracker (Testing): 

Tracker (Testing) Public bug tracking provides another mechanism for interacting with users. Opening this to the public allows anyone to submit a bug and increases your testing pool. Beyond bugs, feature request allows users to suggest improvements to the system.

Tracker (cont.): 

Tracker (cont.) After clicking on the tracker there are a number of options: Users can browse, download, submit new items, run reports, or build queries. Queries can be saved and exposed for public use Trackers can be setup to manage any requests: bugs, change requests, etc…

Email Tracking: 

Email Tracking GForge supports email alerts for a variety of action types. For instance, GForge can be configured to send the admin an email every time a user submits a new bug. To do this, as an admin navigate to the admin page, select tracker, select bug tracker, and select the monitor option.

Lists: 

Lists GForge provides an alternative to the NIH sponsored Workspace list-servs. List-servs in GForge can be made by any project admin and can target any aspect of the lifecycle or organization: testing list-serv, build release list-serv, technical discussion list-serv, etc.. All communications are then published to the website for the community to review

Tasks: 

Tasks Tasks provide another mechanism for charting direction and keeping track of open responsibilities on-line.

Tasks (cont) : 

Tasks (cont) Tasks can be used to track project status and progress. GForge has support for CSV up/download and Gantt Chart generation.

Docs: 

Docs The Docs page provides all of the necessary documentation needed for a user, unfamiliar with the system, to utilize the available software. Documents that should be included for all projects as defined by the Training Workspace: End user documentation Training documentation Installation Documentation

Surveys: 

Surveys Surveys allow for instant data collection from project participants.

News: 

News The news page allow for project announcements and news. Keeping the news page up to date shows project activity and informs users of the status of the system.

SCM (CVS): 

SCM (CVS) The Software Change Management (SCM) screen provides details on accessing CVS as well links to access a web version of CVS. This version of CVS is a mirror of the CVS on cbiocvs2 that currently serves all of caBIG™. Once a page is created users must request that their project pages are linked to their cbioscvs2 account

Files (Releases): 

Files (Releases) The Files tab keeps track of all official software releases. Where all outside users will go to download the software release package Releases should be packaged ready for installation including all source, config, README, install, and user guide files. Releases are configured and packaged by a project admin and upload through the admin portal Click Here to For release email Updates

The Home Page Revisited: 

The Home Page Revisited The Bottom of the home page also tracks all open items from the various tabs.

Registering: 

Registering To get start using GForge for your project the first step is to register. To do so select “New Account” and fill in the appropriate details After filling out the forms you will be alerted by email that your account is activiated

“My Page”: 

“My Page” Once your account has been activated, you can log in review the items in “my page” that show all of the assigned items, submitted items, and tasks assigned to you. From there you can also Register a new Project

Setting Up A Project: 

Setting Up A Project The Project Setup page asks for a number of project related details to be filled in. After submitted NCICB will review the project and send an email once it is activated. Afterwards the user should request their CVS module be linked to the project

GForge and Your Project: 

GForge and Your Project The caBIG™ program goal is that every group has a GForge site up the annual meeting (4/9/06). To start participating in the GForge beta release: Register for an account Discuss with project members your plans for starting a project home page on GForge. Register your project on GForge Email ncicb@pop.nci.nih.gov to ask for your CVS module to be mirrored on GForge Start using the system

Revisiting the Tenants of the Bazaar: 

Revisiting the Tenants of the Bazaar Release Early, Release Often: GForge allows users to upload releases and communicate with users about these releases through the news section and through emails. This People are more apt to solve problems that are interesting to them. Utilize the message boards, news items, and project descriptions to attract casual users to use your software. Many Eyeballs Tame Complexity The more people you can get to review the bugs, forums, and feature requests the easier the implementation of fixes will become. Generally active, alive projects are worth more than inactive, dead projects Keep your page fresh with news about releases and project plans. Also make sure to respond to forum posts and tracking requests, this will keep your community engaged.

Closing Comments: 

Closing Comments GForge is tool to help you manage your program in a public fashion to attract more users. For existing projects we are suggesting full utilization of the bug tracker, wiki, etc … for new projects we will be strongly recommending full utilization of the suite. However, if the suite does not fit your needs we can examine these issues on a case by case basis. GForge is a flexible platform with a wide array of plug-ins available. If you require more advanced functionality or feel that certain areas need improvements we can work together to plan a strategy for improving the software. From personal experience setting up a project is painless and takes only few hours, mainly to get confirmation back from NCICB that the project is accepted.

Contact: 

Contact GForge Technical Support : ncicb@pop.nci.nih.gov Additional Support - Joseph Hanauer : hanauer_joseph@bah.com