Open Source Software - Open Source Groupware

Author

Open Source Groupware

Bob Sanderson

2005-03-13, 8:57 am

My son, a musician, wants to be able to post music on a website and allow
others to download it, revise it, and upload the revised version. In other
words, open source music. I am looking for some open source software that
will permit him to do this. He is not particularly computer literate so the
software will have to be fairly easy to use (I will set it up initially).
Most of the groupware programs I've looked at are extremely complicated and
far more than he needs. Can anyone reccommend a script or program that
will do what he wants.

Requirements:
The ability to register users
The ability for registered users to upload and download files.
Some method of version tracking

Rodney Rees

2005-04-10, 3:57 am

Bob Sanderson wrote:
> My son, a musician, wants to be able to post music on a website and allow
> others to download it, revise it, and upload the revised version. In other
> words, open source music. I am looking for some open source software that
> will permit him to do this. He is not particularly computer literate so the
> software will have to be fairly easy to use (I will set it up initially).
> Most of the groupware programs I've looked at are extremely complicated and
> far more than he needs. Can anyone reccommend a script or program that
> will do what he wants.
>
> Requirements:
> The ability to register users
> The ability for registered users to upload and download files.
> Some method of version tracking

Very interesting. I have been involved in the music and technology scene
for about 20 years now and have seen a multitude of different forms of
"information" go Open Source. I have been involved in the Linux
community for most of its life of 10ish years.

Open Source is the way to go, point blank. I commend your son on making
the choice to make his musical talents available to the world for
collaboration. I would however suggest that you don't reinvent the
wheel. As new as Open Source Music sounds to the masses it is actually
coming of age in this new millennium. You can do what you are wanting to
do but I hope that you are technically competent. (Not meaning to insult
you or your capabilities)

To accomplish what you desire you will need at a bare minimum:

PHPNuke and its variants have a user type system that you may find
appealing. With varying levels of access and priv.'s they will surely
suit your needs.

CVS is probably going to be the part thats a pain in the @ss. It can be
difficult to setup and even more difficult for the technically
challenged to use. But do not despair, there are web based interfaces
that will adapt to the PHPNuke model.

Bandwidth, bandwidth, bandwidth! Music in editable form (Wav Files) are
outrageous in size. In some work that I have done in the past it was not
uncommon for me to chew up around a GB for a single song using 8 tracks.
Some of the equipment and software nowadays has the capability to record
and edit direct to MP3 format using 128kbit for generic roughing and
256kbit and higher for mastering quality tracks.

The hardest thing to obtain for this project is ... Commitment! Not
commitment by you to do this for your son. I commend you for what you
are doing and supporting your child with their dreams. The commitment I
mean is from your son. Once a "work" has been injected into the Open
Source model it can not be removed with removing alterations provided by
contributors while the work was under an Open Source License. The only
way contributions can be left in a "work" after being removed/relicensed
is with written authorization from the contributor.

Like I said, there is no reason to reinvent the wheel. Do a google for
Open Source Music and you will be amazed at the plethora of results.
"Results 1 - 100 of about 23,500,000 English pages for open source
music. (0.73 seconds)"

Some of the quick ones that caught my attention are:
http://www.rootrecords.org/
http://www.osmonline.com/
Just to name a few.

I hope that this helps you in some way.

Rodney - Professional G

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