Thoughts On Software
Does project management in software development contribute to quality? This has been the question that's been rattling inside my brain for several hours now. Is it management guidance or just pure developer talent that is responsible for delivering useful applications? Is quality in software development really measurable? And if they are, who sets the standard? Do management or committees set them? Or are they just a collection of anecdotes, bits and pieces of information gathered from the trenches?
Project leader Demoted To Developer
This is probably the first time I heard of a project leader getting demoted to developer. Reasons were lack of technical skills in handling the details of the project, being not aware of the interconnection between several pieces of homegrown and off-the-shelf tools. It seems though that being good at tracking schedules and presiding over meetings wasn't enough, though. What really counted was the fact that insufficient knowledge contributed to the failure.
Laid Off
A friend who came here several months back is now umenployed. Unfortunately, Andersen Consulting folded leaving the employees here. It has been three months now and no sign she will be getting a job, though.
Animation Tool
Wondering about any Free Software or Open Source counterpart of Macromedia Flash. The nearest one I could find is Gimp. Maybe there are tools I'm not aware of, let me know if there are any.
Found some references, thanks. [ 1 ]
Shared Cost
What kind of organizations would tend to benefit more from the FSF and OS development model where volunteers can get compensated for their work? One good idea is to write offer letters to non-profits (possibly profits as well) about sharing the cost of development of an application. This concept of sharing development cost might become a possibility provided the number of contributing members is large enough to keep the project going.
An offer letter containing the details of the proposal, including the cost breakdown per partner is shown. Once the application gets delivered, an exclusive usage is given to the partners for a certain time, say two years. Once the time lapses, the code is released to the public.
Partners will have a say on the hiring of developers. A consulting firm will be commisioned to perform this task of hiring developers. Resumes will be submitted to the partners for perusal, they may give points but will only carry a certain weight. Consultants will also enter their points and the resulting team is formed. The development team will work together in one location, similar to any proprietary shop. Working time is strictly business.
The offer letter may contain the complete project proposal, including the schedules and milestones. Costing materials are also provided as well, with the objective of recruiting many partners as possible.
Flash Animation
After reading several chapters, it looks like I can make a simple anime character, making it move in several keyframes.