May 3, 2007 Linus Torvalds on git - Linus Torvalds (Linux, git).
ABSTRACT: When Linus looked for a replacement for BitKeeper, he wanted a source control system that was distributed, performed well, and guaranteed that data checked out exactly matches the data that was checked in. To get this, he had to write one. Covers the horrors of CVS, and why Linus considers SVN's slogan "CVS done right" to be a contradiction in terms. Why a distributed source control system is a better match for open source development than a centralized one: "Distribution means nobody's special." Forking is natural, and a distributed SCM is a tool to easily merge forks back together. You can work offline, developers don't block each other during development. Branches have no namespace issues. Every developer having their own branch and can control what gets applied to that branch which eliminates issues of security/trust/politics related to "commit access", and thus cutting a release is something anyone can do. The "network of trust" in merging and cutting releases securely. How git makes merging easy, and resolving conflicts.
May 1, 2007 State of the Linux kernel - Andrew Morton
How Open Source Projects Survive Poisonous People - Ben Collins-Sussman and Brian Fitzpatrick (Subversion).
ABSTRACT: Every open source project runs into people who are selfish, uncooperative, and disrespectful. These people can silently poison the atmosphere of a happy developer community. Come learn how to identify these people and peacefully de-fuse them before they derail your project. Told through a series of (often amusing) real-life anecdotes and experiences.
April 19, 2007 Release Management in Large Free Software Projects - Martin Michlmayr (Debian)
ABSTRACT: Time based releases are made according to a specific time interval, instead of making a release when a particular functionality or set of features have been implemented. This talk argues that time based release management acts as an effective coordination mechanism in large volunteer projects and shows examples from seven projects that have moved to time based releases: Debian, GCC, GNOME, Linux, OpenOffice, Plone, and X.org.