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=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.
The volume of blog postings created within a community can be overwhelming. To help deal with this, RSS or Atom feeds enable the receipt of content in a machine-readable format so that it can be used in a variety of different ways (for example, in Firefox [http://www.mozilla.com/en-US/firefox/livebookmarks.html Live Bookmarks], through a service such as [http://www.google.com/reader Google Reader], or in a program such as [http://liferea.sourceforge.net/ Lifrea] or [http://www.feedreader.com/ FeedReader]).
Many open-source community maintain a [http://planetplanet.org Planet] site which aggregates the feeds from community members into a single page (and the Planet, in turn, provides an aggregated feed). Here are some examples:
* Fedora Planet - http://planet.fedoraproject.org/
The OpenSource@Seneca planet open source Planet is at http[https://zenit.senecactelescope.on.ca/~chris.tyler/planet and includes postings from current and former Seneca students, Seneca faculty, and local and international partnerscdot. See [[Open Source@Seneca Planet List]systems Telescope] for information on starting a blog and adding it to the planet.
= Blogs in DPS909/OSD600/SBR600/SPO600 =
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 will receive separate blogging instructions for each of your courses. In general, you'll submit some of your weekly work and project reports by blogging. You are also encouraged to comment on postings by other people.
=Posting Guidelines=
Your blog is an integral part of your work in your open source course(s). Blog postings will be made available to other students, faculty, and the general public via the web and your RSS/Atom feeds, and your postings will appear on the [httphttps://zenittelescope.senecaccdot.on.ca/~chris.tyler/planet OpenSource@Seneca Planetsystems Telescope]. The Planet feed will in turn be picked up and used in a number of very public places.
Because your blog postings will be incorporated into other content, it is important that you represent your thoughts professionally, using these guidelines:
* '''Provide context''' so that someone happening across your blog post will understand what you are talking about.
* '''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 Telescope page is generated periodically, and even if you delete or change your posting, it may be indexed, cached, or reposted until in the planet is re-generatedprevious form. 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).
* '''Write in English.''' English is the language of instruction at Seneca and the main language of communication in many open source communities.
* '''Define appreviations and acronyms''' the first time each one is used.
* '''Keep the postings relevant to your open source work'''.
Failure to follow these guidelines may result in removal of your feed from the PlanetTelescope, 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:
# Create a separate blog for your personal postings.
# Use a feed for the Planet Telescope 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]] = Access to Blog Posts = It's important that your professor be able to easily access your blog posts for a particular date range. Some blog software and blog ''themes'' provide easy access to your posts and some make it very difficult. Please don't frustrate your prof -- and risk having them miss some of yours posts! -- by using a configuration that makes it hard to find your posts.
