Open Systems Lab in the Department of Computer

Open Systems Lab in the Department of Computer Science The forthcoming Open Systems Lab at the University of Regina is only one of many initiatives regarding open source at the University of Regina Open Source Seminar Series: Ideals, Politics, Business Models, and Technical Challenges The success of the open source movement cannot be explained solely by technological terms. A deep understanding of the phenomenon must be transdisciplinary in nature, shedding light on the ideological commitments of the open source community, the intellectual property issues surrounding open source licenses, the emergent business models that build profitable businesses out of freely distributable, open source software, and the community building effects of the intrinsically participatory open source development process. This seminar series is organized to promote awareness of this important movement among the university community, and to foster transdisciplinary research collaboration among researchers from various academic units. Upcoming Fall seminars: • Building Profitable Business out of Open Source Software • Open Source in Academic Settings • Research Directions in Open Source Software Engineering Funded as a Transdisciplinary Project by the Office of the Vice President (Academic), University of Regina. Open Systems Lab Funding was announced from Western Economic Diversification Canada by Finance Minister Ralph Goodale in February 2004 to provide infrastructure to allow training and research in open source software development: • This lab will enrich and bolster interest in the Software Systems Development degree option in the Faculty of Science. We estimate that approximately 100 students per year would be enrolled in courses using the new facility. • The lab will provide an important research environment where faculty members can disseminate research, contribute to ongoing research, and benefit from new opportunities for applied work. Faculty interests involved would include software engineering and usability. Centre for Open Systems and the Internet Open source technologies, and open licensing strategies, seem to be ideally suited to the challenges of creating a sustainable future for this province, and the proposed Centre will be dedicated to pursue the following goal: 1. To create an internationally-respected centre for open source which provides training in the open source software development methodology and conducts research to enhance that methodology through involvement in development projects. 2. To explore the economic benefits and opportunities of open systems strategies for the University of Regina and across all sectors of the economy. 3. To explore the broad social benefits and opportunities of open systems strategies for the province. CS 474: Topics in Software Maintenance and Evolution Part of the program requirement for our Software Systems Development Program, this proposed course prepares students to take part in the most expensive phase of a software development project — software maintenance and evolution. The open source development model will be studied as one of the lightweight development models that facilitate rapid software evolution. Students acquire hands-on experience through a term project involving contribution to an existing open source project. Share Your Ideas As part of the community, we are seeking ways to be involved with and support LOSURS and ROSPA. • Please share your ideas, questions, and comments with us by subscribing to our mailing list: send a note to 'majordomo@cs. uregina. ca’ with 'subscribe oss’ in the message body. • Visit the website to stay informed: www. cs. uregina. ca/OSS/ The transdisciplinary team behind these efforts includes Philip Fong and Daryl Hepting (Computer Science), David Elliott and Roger Petry (Philosophy) and Robert Anderson (Administration)