OSD600/DPS909 Information
OSD600 Open Source Development (CPA Program) and DPS909 Topics in Open Source (BSD Program) courses enable you to dive into open source and work with developers from around the world on software which is used by millions of people every day.
If you're considering taking these courses, this page will provide the information you need as well as links to important resources.
Projects
This is a project-oriented course working directly with the Mozilla (Firefox/Thunderbird) and OpenOffice.org communities. Each of these communities maintains a huge codebase (millions of lines of code) which has been developed over a number of years and which is being actively improved by hundreds from many different countries. This software is written in several languages, including C/C++, JavaScript, Java, and various scripting languages (bash, perl, and python), and works on a wide range of platforms including Windows, Mac, and Linux systems.
You'll select a project from a list of potential projects developed in consultation with Mozilla and OpenOffice.org -- practical, needed projects -- and work in direct communication with other developers. The potential projects list includes programming, localization, build system, automated testing, documentation, bug-fixing, and feature enhancement projects.
Results
These courses uniquely enable you to work on massive (multi-million-line) codebases, communicate and collaborate with other developers, and make changes that matter to huge numbers of people around the globe. Furthermore, Seneca open source students have gone on to internships and full-time employment with open source projects and companies.