Blog Guidelines

Introduction

In the open source world blogs are one of the main vehicles for general discussions about technical and project issues. One of the main reasons for this is that open source projects are interconnected, and developers working on one project want to follow what is happening in other projects. Users also like to know what is happening behind the scenes with their favourite software. Blogging is a great way to reach new people who share similar interests to you. Sites like http://digg.com, http://slashdot.org, and others facilitate this.

Blogs in DPS909/OSD600

You are required to blog twice per week on things related to the course, your project, your readings, etc. If you haven't blogged before, spend some time reading other people's blogs. You can read the Mozilla blogs on http://planet.mozilla.org.

You are also encouraged to comment on other people's blog posts when you have something to say in reply. Blog comments allow two way communication, and help blog authors understand how their views are being received.

Posting Guidelines

Your blog is an integral part of your work in DPS909/OSD600. Blog postings will be made available to other students, faculty, and the general public via your RSS/Atom feeds, and your postings will appear on the OpenSource@Seneca Planet. The Planet feed will in turn be picked up and used in a number of very public places, including a crawl on the CS homepage.

Because your blog postings will be incorporated into other content, it is important that you represent your thoughts professionally, using these guidelines:

• Write professionally. Blog postings are less formal than other types of writing, but they are still a reflection of your communications skills.
• Remember that the internet has a long memory. The Planet page is generated once an hour, and even if you delete or change your posting, it may be indexed, cached, or reposted during that hour. Avoid saying something that might come back to haunt you later -- and remember that future employers may read your old postings (as well as future in-laws, office mates, and so forth).
• Do not use profane, obscene, or rude content, or content that belittles other people.
• Do not link to profane, obscene, or illegal material or to sites that knowingly violate intellectual property rights (warez).
• Ensure that each posting makes sense when taken out of the context of your blog and viewed on its own. If you are referring to one of your previous posts, link to it rather than refer to it as being "below" or "above".
• Ensure that each posting conforms to the Seneca AUP
• Keep the postings relevant to your open source work.

Failure to follow these guidelines will result in removal of your feed from the Planet, and in a severe case (such as a breach of the AUP) may result in disciplinary action from the college.

Please note that if you want to create blog entries that may not conform to these guidelines, you are free to do so in one of two ways:

1. Create a separate blog for your personal postings.
2. Use a feed for the Planet that only includes articles tagged with a certain word or classified into a certain category, and then ensure that articles that do not meet these guidelines are not tagged or classified in such a way that they are picked up in the feed. See Open Source@Seneca Planet List.