macOS Simple Open Source Project

[Cromulent]

Does anyone know of any relatively simple open source projects that are written in C that are fairly easy to follow and get involved with? I'm not all that fussed about what it does but I am interested in following an open source project and looking at the development cycle of one. I think it will be quite useful for me when I start my computer science degree.

Any suggestions welcome.

 

[riscy]

Have a look here at SourceFourge which is THE site for open source.


See if something grabs your fancy and contact the author of the app.

 

[Cromulent]

Have a look here at SourceFourge which is THE site for open source.


See if something grabs your fancy and contact the author of the app.

Good call. Thanks, I completely forgot about Sourceforge.

 

[fimac]

Cygwin

Does anyone know of any relatively simple open source projects that are written in C that are fairly easy to follow and get involved with? I'm not all that fussed about what it does but I am interested in following an open source project and looking at the development cycle of one. I think it will be quite useful for me when I start my computer science degree.

Any suggestions welcome.

I lurked on the Cygwin mailing lists for a couple of years, and found them to be both instructive (in terms of Unix history, culture & APIs) and entertaining (as a window in to geek culture).

 

[riscy]

No probs, Cromulent, it just sprang to mind when I saw Open Source

Good call. Thanks, I completely forgot about Sourceforge.

 

[HiRez]

Great idea, I've been wanting to do this myself. In fact I've been thinking I shouldnopen source a few of my own projects I don't have time to follow up with, but I haven't the slightest idea how.

 

[kainjow]

In fact I've been thinking I shouldnopen source a few of my own projects I don't have time to follow up with, but I haven't the slightest idea how.

SourceForge is decent, but I prefer Google Code, since they seem more simpler and modern. It's easy to get started.

 

[Catfish_Man]

Great idea, I've been wanting to do this myself. In fact I've been thinking I shouldnopen source a few of my own projects I don't have time to follow up with, but I haven't the slightest idea how.

Unfortunately, the odds of people picking up "abandoned" open source projects are pretty slim. Strong leadership is pretty important for getting them off the ground.

 

[ChrisA]

... I am interested in following an open source project and looking at the development cycle of one.

There is no "typical" development cycle. Each project has it's own and they can be very different.

The way to pick is to find a subject that you are interested in. Is that Electronic Design, Music, Photography, Telephony. Work of a program that you like and use. I could list literally 100 open source projects but I'd want to know your interests first. If you are not yet an experienced programmer many of the projects really need write user level documentation, design web pages or other supporting activities.

 

[Cromulent]

There is no "typical" development cycle. Each project has it's own and they can be very different.

Ah, sorry I should have been more specific. I wanted to see a development cycle not necessarily a common development cycle if you see what I mean.

The way to pick is to find a subject that you are interested in. Is that Electronic Design, Music, Photography, Telephony. Work of a program that you like and use. I could list literally 100 open source projects but I'd want to know your interests first. If you are not yet an experienced programmer many of the projects really need write user level documentation, design web pages or other supporting activities.

Actually thats a pretty good idea. I guess if I contribute some documentation or things like that the developers may be a little more lenient if I have some silly questions about the code as I get into the swing of things. Thanks for the advice.

 

[x704]

You could always help out with the Linux kernel, grab yourself a copy of gentoo and... j/k

I started with a linked list in C coming from a Java background. Doing so helped me grasp pointers, how they are used, and memory management. I would encourage anyone learning C or Objective-C to start with a linked list as well.

What kind of things do you want to do? A decent CAD program is needed in general, QCAD (I think its in C) I guess works, but sucks. If you want to do C/Objective-C, Objective-C needs work on open source libraries... which is what I'm involved with (https://launchpad.net/~coreobj).
Later on I would like to help sidestep, openmoko, and PlaneShift; but that's just what I want to eventually do.

Millage will very. Have fun