-

 Week 8 - CST462s – Race, Gender, Class in the Digital World

Service-Learning Reflections

My service-learning experience was great. I learned a lot about the bug triaging process, bibisecting, and the LibreOffice open-source software. The initial process went well, our site supervisor created a guide for volunteers who wish to contribute which was highly informative and easy to follow. Once I reviewed the guide and the resources that came with it, I got started with bug testing and logging hours in the first week.

Although the guide created by our site supervisor was great and covered everything you needed to get started, I would include several videos showing the bug triaging process from beginning to end. Although some people might be ready by just reading the material, I feel more confident in performing a process I have seen already.

The most impactful part of this experience was knowing that I was helping to improve open-source software which is used by hundreds of millions of users around the world. For some of those users, free and open-source software is their only option due to financial constraints. The Document Foundation, with LibreOffice, aims to eliminate the digital divide by providing a suite of programs at no cost to its users. Being able to help this organization was truly rewarding.

Finding space in my schedule to log in hours was challenging due to having two classes in this term. But the biggest challenge I faced was when we moved on to bibisecting. Bibisecting is short for binary bisecting, where you go through the commits in a specific repository reproducing the bug to find the first bad commit where the bug is present. This is a powerful tool that helps developers by identifying the commit that needs to be fixed. This process is done using PowerShell and Git to access the repositories. I am still not confident using the command line or Git commands, so it was very challenging for me to get started.

My advice to future service learners is to not worry too much about getting started and simply start contributing. The LibreOffice community is made up of volunteers who share a common goal, to contribute to this powerful open-source software. You are one of those contributors, and every bit of work you do will make a difference.

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

-
Week 8 – CST – 300 Module 8 OLI – Post-Test This week we had to take the post-test which was a culmination of what we have learned throughout the course. It started off with opinion questions where you had to choose whether you agreed or disagreed with the statement. I compared my answers to the pre-test answers and, although they are not graded, I believe my answers improved. From the OLI modules, I learned that you must consider everyone’s opinions and to use conflict resolution techniques when there is difference of opinions. When someone is expressing their opinion, you must use active listening and let them know you understood by repeating to them what they told you in your own words. For dealing with conflicts, you must use active listening and then formulate an assertion message to deal with the conflict.   Part 1: Review Other Team’s Final Video Projects Gigabit Goon Squad Public Video – 1.       Is the topic well covered? Yes, I bel...
Read more
-
  Week 1 – CST – 363 Introduction to Database Systems 1.       Relational database tables and spreadsheets look similar with both having rows and columns. What are some important differences between the two? Some important differences between database tables and spreadsheets are the way data is formatted and how data is stored. In a spreadsheet, every cell can store any type of data like a date, integer, or string. These data types can also have their unique format. In a database, each cell must contain only one data type helping to prevent data mismatch mistakes. In a spreadsheet, the data is stored in each cell. In a database, the data is stored in a row made up of columns. 2.       Installing and configurating a database and learning how to use it is more complicated than just reading and writing data to a file. What are some important reasons that make a database a useful investment of time? Learning how to install and c...
Read more
-
  Week 2 – CST370 – Design and Analysis of Algorithms This week we covered asymptotic notations, non-recursive algorithms, and recursive algorithms. We use the order of growth to determine an algorithm’s efficiency. We also use three notations to rank the order of growth: big oh, big omega, and big theta. Big oh, is the set of all functions with a lower or same order of growth as g(n), a simple function to compare the count with. Big omega is the set of all functions with a higher or same order of growth as g(n). Lastly, big theta is the set of all functions that have the same order of growth as g(n). Non-recursive algorithms solve problems by repetition through loops to execute instructions until a condition is met. An example of a non-recursive algorithm is a Max Element algorithm where you must find the value of the largest number in an array. A recursive algorithm calls itself with smaller values and returns the result for the current input by carrying out basic operati...
Read more