OSD600 is a quite special class to me. Unlike other courses, this one is no longer just about submitting your works only, but also the whole experience of getting into the outside world.
The course covers everything about socializing in open-source world, such as knowing the latest projects, using github, problem solving, talking to people on irc, blogging, etc. It is a guidance of bringing yourself to this open-source culture, which I think is a very useful and important for many people like me. It make you learn faster and feel comfortable no matter if you are bad or good in programming. The more you getting in touch with people in open-source world, the more you learn about things. It is also about working with teams and strangers that most people will have to encounter in the future. Assignments are helping yourself to be ready for the society.
That is why this course should be mandatory. I would suggest new students taking this course otherwise they will lose a really good opportunity. Since it is not a very hard course (except for people who don’t really care about others), It won’t affect other courses and you will gain more from this course than you do in other courses. I will encourage my friend to take this course too. Dave is definitely a nice teacher to work with.
Well, being said that, due to the heavy load of assignments from other courses in this semester, I am not doing so well for this class. Hopefully, I will have enough time for OSD700 in the next one (if I pass this course). :)