ABSTRACT. The Open Source Software (OSS) development is gaining popularity from year to year, however, entering the OSS community still remains a challenging task. In this work, we describe challenges faced by a beginner OSS code-developer during the first contribution. Additionally, we analyze our experience and offer hints for potential newcomers. Whole work was done as the project of the Open Source Software undergraduate course at the Computer Department of Nazarbayev University.

ABSTRACT. In this paper student experience of contributing to Open Source Software (OSS) is described. Contributions were done as a part of the OSS course taken at Nazarbayev University during Spring 2019 term. Two students described their experience: Assiya Kuzyakhmetova and Aidarbek Suleimenov. Their motivations to contribute to OSS, selected projects and the lists of activities were also mentioned in this paper. Assessment of this experience is also done in this publication.

ABSTRACT. Open source software (OSS) is usually developed by heterogeneous groups of people, each with their own interests, motivations and abilities. Therefore, it is important to establish the best software development and contributing practices early in the life-time of the project. Such practices should foster contributors' involvement in the open-source project as quickly as possible. The sustainability of an OSS project is heavily based on the underlying community of contributors and on the knowledge and skills they bring to the project and they acquire and develop through their participation in the project and interaction with the project community. Therefore, identifying and investigating contributors' learning processes is an important research area in OSS.

This survey paper presents an overview of open source learning methods in order to explore how community interaction impacts the development and application of OSS learning processes in other areas, especially in education. It is argued that collaboration with peers and consistent code contributions result in learning progress in OSS. Typical research in this area is based on case by case analysis, whereas this survey will try to highlight and combine the outcomes of several research contributions from the literature.

ABSTRACT. An unexpected result from an open project to develop a `chaotic' compiler for ANSI C is described here: an information entropy calculus for stochastically compiled programs. A stochastic compiler produces randomly different object codes every time it is applied to the same source code. The calculus quantifies the entropy introduced into the run-time program traces by the compiler, allowing the strategy for maximum entropy to be characterised and that the compiler implements it to be verified. The analysis aims to support the argument that, on a suitable run-time platform and via any polynomial time method, the programmer's intention is unreadable from the trace, as word length n tends to infinity.

ABSTRACT. Linux kernel is one of the most used Free/Libre Open Source Software (FLOSS) projects. It is installed on billions of devices all over the world, which process various sensitive, confidential or simply private data. It is crucial to establish and prove its security properties. The paper presents a method to verify the Linux kernel for conformance with an abstract security policy model written in the Event-B specification language. The method is based on the system call tracing and aims at checking that the results of the system call execution do not lead to accesses that violate security policy requirements. As a basis for it, we use an additional Event-B specification of the Linux system call interface that is formally proved to satisfy all the requirements of the security policy model. In order to perform the conformance checks we use it to reproduce intercepted system calls and verify accesses.

ABSTRACT. Algorithmic problem solving is a way of approaching and solving problems by using the advances that have been made in the principles of correct-by-construction algorithm design. The approach has been taught at first-year undergraduate level since September 2003 and, since then, a substantial amount of learning materials have been developed.

However, the existing materials are distributed in a conventional and static way (e.g. as a textbook and as several documents in PDF format available online), not leveraging the capabilities provided by modern collaborative and open-source platforms.

In this paper, we propose the creation of an online, open-source repository of interactive learning materials on algorithmic problem solving. We show how the existing framework Mathigon can be used to support such a repository. By being open and hosted on a platform such as GitHub, the repository enables collaboration and anyone can create and submit new material. Furthermore, by making the material interactive, we hope to encourage engagement with and a better understanding of the materials.