Discussion:
[Rails] RoR for poor farmers in Africa
David Hughes
2018-11-13 19:22:58 UTC
Permalink
Hi all
I am a scientist at Penn State University and the United Nations Food and
Agricultural Organisation. I work to help poor farmers in Africa and
elsewhere grow more food by combatting pests and diseases. There are two
ways we do this: an Android app that runs TensorFlow object detection
offline inside the food without a web connection (see here
The other way is through an
Open Access library on content called PlantVillage with a QA forum. This
platform is 6 years old and had around 8 million visitors with around
80-100k new month. https://plantvillage.psu.edu/ The platform is RoR

All of this is a public good, aimed at helping poor farmers who typically
earn a few dollars/day. I am spending a lot of money on developers (in
India) and I raise money with grant writing etc. I am having issues around
quality and cannot afford the necessary QA.

I was wondering if I open sourced the site would your community be
interested in helping? We work directly with farmers and through the United
Nations. It really can be a very impactful project

My goal is an AI-driven platform that is the number 1 resource in the world
for smallholder farmers around the world. All ad free and without haresting
their data to sell

I would love to hear your views on whether open sourcing would be a good
idea and would people join in?

Thanks

David

David Hughes
Dept Entomology & Biology,
Penn State
https://sites.psu.edu/hugheslab/
https://plantvillage.psu.edu/
***@psu.edu
@zombieantguy, @plantvillage
814 863 6073 (Office)
















..
2018-2019, UN FAO Fellow, Rome and visiting professor at La Sapienza, Rome















..
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Joe Guerra
2018-11-13 19:39:55 UTC
Permalink
Sure, why not?
Post by David Hughes
Hi all
I am a scientist at Penn State University and the United Nations Food and
Agricultural Organisation. I work to help poor farmers in Africa and
elsewhere grow more food by combatting pests and diseases. There are two
ways we do this: an Android app that runs TensorFlow object detection
offline inside the food without a web connection (see here
http://youtu.be/NlpS-DhayQA The other way is through
an Open Access library on content called PlantVillage with a QA forum. This
platform is 6 years old and had around 8 million visitors with around
80-100k new month. https://plantvillage.psu.edu/ The platform is RoR
All of this is a public good, aimed at helping poor farmers who typically
earn a few dollars/day. I am spending a lot of money on developers (in
India) and I raise money with grant writing etc. I am having issues around
quality and cannot afford the necessary QA.
I was wondering if I open sourced the site would your community be
interested in helping? We work directly with farmers and through the United
Nations. It really can be a very impactful project
My goal is an AI-driven platform that is the number 1 resource in the
world for smallholder farmers around the world. All ad free and without
haresting their data to sell
I would love to hear your views on whether open sourcing would be a good
idea and would people join in?
Thanks
David
David Hughes
Dept Entomology & Biology,
Penn State
https://sites.psu.edu/hugheslab/
https://plantvillage.psu.edu/
@zombieantguy, @plantvillage
814 863 6073 (Office)















..
2018-2019, UN FAO Fellow, Rome and visiting professor at La Sapienza, Rome















..
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Krishna Gundala
2018-11-13 19:41:28 UTC
Permalink
Hi David,
It's an excellent idea.
I would really glad to help you in terms of testing the application.
---

Thanks,

Mohan G
Post by David Hughes
Hi all
I am a scientist at Penn State University and the United Nations Food and
Agricultural Organisation. I work to help poor farmers in Africa and
elsewhere grow more food by combatting pests and diseases. There are two
ways we do this: an Android app that runs TensorFlow object detection
offline inside the food without a web connection (see here
http://youtu.be/NlpS-DhayQA The other way is through
an Open Access library on content called PlantVillage with a QA forum. This
platform is 6 years old and had around 8 million visitors with around
80-100k new month. https://plantvillage.psu.edu/ The platform is RoR
All of this is a public good, aimed at helping poor farmers who typically
earn a few dollars/day. I am spending a lot of money on developers (in
India) and I raise money with grant writing etc. I am having issues around
quality and cannot afford the necessary QA.
I was wondering if I open sourced the site would your community be
interested in helping? We work directly with farmers and through the United
Nations. It really can be a very impactful project
My goal is an AI-driven platform that is the number 1 resource in the
world for smallholder farmers around the world. All ad free and without
haresting their data to sell
I would love to hear your views on whether open sourcing would be a good
idea and would people join in?
Thanks
David
David Hughes
Dept Entomology & Biology,
Penn State
https://sites.psu.edu/hugheslab/
https://plantvillage.psu.edu/
@zombieantguy, @plantvillage
814 863 6073 (Office)















..
2018-2019, UN FAO Fellow, Rome and visiting professor at La Sapienza, Rome















..
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David Hughes
2018-11-13 21:27:32 UTC
Permalink
Thats great Mohan. Thanks!
Post by Krishna Gundala
Hi David,
It's an excellent idea.
I would really glad to help you in terms of testing the application.
---
Thanks,
Mohan G
Post by David Hughes
Hi all
I am a scientist at Penn State University and the United Nations Food and
Agricultural Organisation. I work to help poor farmers in Africa and
elsewhere grow more food by combatting pests and diseases. There are two
ways we do this: an Android app that runs TensorFlow object detection
offline inside the food without a web connection (see here
http://youtu.be/NlpS-DhayQA The other way is through
an Open Access library on content called PlantVillage with a QA forum. This
platform is 6 years old and had around 8 million visitors with around
80-100k new month. https://plantvillage.psu.edu/ The platform is RoR
All of this is a public good, aimed at helping poor farmers who typically
earn a few dollars/day. I am spending a lot of money on developers (in
India) and I raise money with grant writing etc. I am having issues around
quality and cannot afford the necessary QA.
I was wondering if I open sourced the site would your community be
interested in helping? We work directly with farmers and through the United
Nations. It really can be a very impactful project
My goal is an AI-driven platform that is the number 1 resource in the
world for smallholder farmers around the world. All ad free and without
haresting their data to sell
I would love to hear your views on whether open sourcing would be a good
idea and would people join in?
Thanks
David
David Hughes
Dept Entomology & Biology,
Penn State
https://sites.psu.edu/hugheslab/
https://plantvillage.psu.edu/
@zombieantguy, @plantvillage
814 863 6073 (Office)















..
2018-2019, UN FAO Fellow, Rome and visiting professor at La Sapienza, Rome















..
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Josue Figueroa
2018-11-13 19:52:46 UTC
Permalink
Hi David,

I will like to help. My experience is RoR

Josue
Post by David Hughes
Hi all
I am a scientist at Penn State University and the United Nations Food and
Agricultural Organisation. I work to help poor farmers in Africa and
elsewhere grow more food by combatting pests and diseases. There are two
ways we do this: an Android app that runs TensorFlow object detection
offline inside the food without a web connection (see here
http://youtu.be/NlpS-DhayQA The other way is through
an Open Access library on content called PlantVillage with a QA forum. This
platform is 6 years old and had around 8 million visitors with around
80-100k new month. https://plantvillage.psu.edu/ The platform is RoR
All of this is a public good, aimed at helping poor farmers who typically
earn a few dollars/day. I am spending a lot of money on developers (in
India) and I raise money with grant writing etc. I am having issues around
quality and cannot afford the necessary QA.
I was wondering if I open sourced the site would your community be
interested in helping? We work directly with farmers and through the United
Nations. It really can be a very impactful project
My goal is an AI-driven platform that is the number 1 resource in the
world for smallholder farmers around the world. All ad free and without
haresting their data to sell
I would love to hear your views on whether open sourcing would be a good
idea and would people join in?
Thanks
David
David Hughes
Dept Entomology & Biology,
Penn State
https://sites.psu.edu/hugheslab/
https://plantvillage.psu.edu/
@zombieantguy, @plantvillage
814 863 6073 (Office)















..
2018-2019, UN FAO Fellow, Rome and visiting professor at La Sapienza, Rome















..
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Frantz Augustin
2018-11-13 20:01:10 UTC
Permalink
Hi David,

I will like to help too.

- Frantz

Frantz Augustin
Founder @ Club Artizan
clubartizan.com
Post by Krishna Gundala
Hi David,
I will like to help. My experience is RoR
Josue
El mar., 13 nov. 2018 a las 13:25, David Hughes (<
Post by David Hughes
Hi all
I am a scientist at Penn State University and the United Nations Food and
Agricultural Organisation. I work to help poor farmers in Africa and
elsewhere grow more food by combatting pests and diseases. There are two
ways we do this: an Android app that runs TensorFlow object detection
offline inside the food without a web connection (see here
http://youtu.be/NlpS-DhayQA The other way is through
an Open Access library on content called PlantVillage with a QA forum. This
platform is 6 years old and had around 8 million visitors with around
80-100k new month. https://plantvillage.psu.edu/ The platform is RoR
All of this is a public good, aimed at helping poor farmers who typically
earn a few dollars/day. I am spending a lot of money on developers (in
India) and I raise money with grant writing etc. I am having issues around
quality and cannot afford the necessary QA.
I was wondering if I open sourced the site would your community be
interested in helping? We work directly with farmers and through the United
Nations. It really can be a very impactful project
My goal is an AI-driven platform that is the number 1 resource in the
world for smallholder farmers around the world. All ad free and without
haresting their data to sell
I would love to hear your views on whether open sourcing would be a good
idea and would people join in?
Thanks
David
David Hughes
Dept Entomology & Biology,
Penn State
https://sites.psu.edu/hugheslab/
https://plantvillage.psu.edu/
@zombieantguy, @plantvillage
814 863 6073 (Office)















..
2018-2019, UN FAO Fellow, Rome and visiting professor at La Sapienza, Rome















..
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David Hughes
2018-11-13 21:27:44 UTC
Permalink
that is great. Thanks
Post by Krishna Gundala
Hi David,
I will like to help. My experience is RoR
Josue
Post by David Hughes
Hi all
I am a scientist at Penn State University and the United Nations Food and
Agricultural Organisation. I work to help poor farmers in Africa and
elsewhere grow more food by combatting pests and diseases. There are two
ways we do this: an Android app that runs TensorFlow object detection
offline inside the food without a web connection (see here
http://youtu.be/NlpS-DhayQA The other way is through
an Open Access library on content called PlantVillage with a QA forum. This
platform is 6 years old and had around 8 million visitors with around
80-100k new month. https://plantvillage.psu.edu/ The platform is RoR
All of this is a public good, aimed at helping poor farmers who typically
earn a few dollars/day. I am spending a lot of money on developers (in
India) and I raise money with grant writing etc. I am having issues around
quality and cannot afford the necessary QA.
I was wondering if I open sourced the site would your community be
interested in helping? We work directly with farmers and through the United
Nations. It really can be a very impactful project
My goal is an AI-driven platform that is the number 1 resource in the
world for smallholder farmers around the world. All ad free and without
haresting their data to sell
I would love to hear your views on whether open sourcing would be a good
idea and would people join in?
Thanks
David
David Hughes
Dept Entomology & Biology,
Penn State
https://sites.psu.edu/hugheslab/
https://plantvillage.psu.edu/
@zombieantguy, @plantvillage
814 863 6073 (Office)















..
2018-2019, UN FAO Fellow, Rome and visiting professor at La Sapienza, Rome















..
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Kevin Elliott
2018-11-13 21:11:53 UTC
Permalink
Hi David,

I would certainly contribute a small bit of time lending my expertise for free if you made it open source, specifically around code quality. One of my specialties is coming into very degraded RoR codebases, implementing a cleanup plan, ratcheting in order to get things in order (writing tests for current expected state, making improvements, then adjusting tests to reflect), and instilling best practices.

While I could not guarantee much of my time (I need to reserve most of my time for paid obligations), I would certainly be happy to contribute some Pull Requests to bring the code quality level up (measurable by something like Code Climate, for example) and introduce some best practices.

I love the cause, so happy to give back.

You can find me here: https://www.linkedin.com/in/elliottkevin/ <https://www.linkedin.com/in/elliottkevin/>

Best,
Kevin

Kevin Elliott
Entrepreneurial focused full stack engineering
Post by David Hughes
Hi all
I am a scientist at Penn State University and the United Nations Food and Agricultural Organisation. I work to help poor farmers in Africa and elsewhere grow more food by combatting pests and diseases. There are two ways we do this: an Android app that runs TensorFlow object detection offline inside the food without a web connection (see here http://youtu.be/NlpS-DhayQA The other way is through an Open Access library on content called PlantVillage with a QA forum. This platform is 6 years old and had around 8 million visitors with around 80-100k new month. https://plantvillage.psu.edu/ The platform is RoR
All of this is a public good, aimed at helping poor farmers who typically earn a few dollars/day. I am spending a lot of money on developers (in India) and I raise money with grant writing etc. I am having issues around quality and cannot afford the necessary QA.
I was wondering if I open sourced the site would your community be interested in helping? We work directly with farmers and through the United Nations. It really can be a very impactful project
My goal is an AI-driven platform that is the number 1 resource in the world for smallholder farmers around the world. All ad free and without haresting their data to sell
I would love to hear your views on whether open sourcing would be a good idea and would people join in?
Thanks
David
David Hughes
Dept Entomology & Biology,
Penn State
https://sites.psu.edu/hugheslab/
https://plantvillage.psu.edu/
@zombieantguy, @plantvillage
814 863 6073 (Office)















..
2018-2019, UN FAO Fellow, Rome and visiting professor at La Sapienza, Rome















..
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David Hughes
2018-11-13 21:26:54 UTC
Permalink
Hi Kevin
Many thanks. I had a number of positive replies which was great!!!

I would make everything open. There is also the app. It is tightly linked
to the site of course so I think they both should be available for people
to check/work on

thanks very much

David
Post by Krishna Gundala
Hi David,
I would certainly contribute a small bit of time lending my expertise for
free if you made it open source, specifically around code quality. One of
my specialties is coming into very degraded RoR codebases, implementing a
cleanup plan, ratcheting in order to get things in order (writing tests for
current expected state, making improvements, then adjusting tests to
reflect), and instilling best practices.
While I could not guarantee much of my time (I need to reserve most of my
time for paid obligations), I would certainly be happy to contribute some
Pull Requests to bring the code quality level up (measurable by something
like Code Climate, for example) and introduce some best practices.
I love the cause, so happy to give back.
You can find me here: https://www.linkedin.com/in/elliottkevin/
Best,
Kevin
Kevin Elliott
Entrepreneurial focused full stack engineering
Hi all
I am a scientist at Penn State University and the United Nations Food and
Agricultural Organisation. I work to help poor farmers in Africa and
elsewhere grow more food by combatting pests and diseases. There are two
ways we do this: an Android app that runs TensorFlow object detection
offline inside the food without a web connection (see here
http://youtu.be/NlpS-DhayQA The other way is through
an Open Access library on content called PlantVillage with a QA forum. This
platform is 6 years old and had around 8 million visitors with around
80-100k new month. https://plantvillage.psu.edu/ The platform is RoR
All of this is a public good, aimed at helping poor farmers who typically
earn a few dollars/day. I am spending a lot of money on developers (in
India) and I raise money with grant writing etc. I am having issues around
quality and cannot afford the necessary QA.
I was wondering if I open sourced the site would your community be
interested in helping? We work directly with farmers and through the United
Nations. It really can be a very impactful project
My goal is an AI-driven platform that is the number 1 resource in the
world for smallholder farmers around the world. All ad free and without
haresting their data to sell
I would love to hear your views on whether open sourcing would be a good
idea and would people join in?
Thanks
David
David Hughes
Dept Entomology & Biology,
Penn State
https://sites.psu.edu/hugheslab/
https://plantvillage.psu.edu/
@zombieantguy, @plantvillage
814 863 6073 (Office)















..
2018-2019, UN FAO Fellow, Rome and visiting professor at La Sapienza, Rome















..
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Hassan Schroeder
2018-11-14 02:56:47 UTC
Permalink
On Tue, Nov 13, 2018 at 11:25 AM David Hughes
Post by David Hughes
I was wondering if I open sourced the site would your community be interested in helping? We work directly with farmers and through the United Nations. It really can be a very impactful project
I would love to hear your views on whether open sourcing would be a good idea and would people join in?
Besides a "yes" to open sourcing, I would suggest you look at other
communities and organizations as well. There are many efforts to
bring together socially conscious tech people and the projects that
need them: codecorps.org, codeforgood.io -- search for "tech" and
"social good" :-)

Good luck!
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femto Zheng
2018-11-14 05:05:48 UTC
Permalink
really interested, willing to help.
I'm an expert on Ruby and Rails, have 15 years of expertise,(Also learn a
bit about machine learning,python, tensorflow, keras)
really good at backend development, though a bit weak on frontend,
let me know what I can help.

On Wed, Nov 14, 2018 at 10:57 AM Hassan Schroeder <
Post by Hassan Schroeder
On Tue, Nov 13, 2018 at 11:25 AM David Hughes
Post by David Hughes
I was wondering if I open sourced the site would your community be
interested in helping? We work directly with farmers and through the United
Nations. It really can be a very impactful project
Post by David Hughes
I would love to hear your views on whether open sourcing would be a good
idea and would people join in?
Besides a "yes" to open sourcing, I would suggest you look at other
communities and organizations as well. There are many efforts to
bring together socially conscious tech people and the projects that
need them: codecorps.org, codeforgood.io -- search for "tech" and
"social good" :-)
Good luck!
--
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David Hughes
2018-11-14 10:42:44 UTC
Permalink
many thanks Femto.

Got some great replies and now need to talk to my Uni on what open license
we can apply

will get back to you
d
Post by femto Zheng
really interested, willing to help.
I'm an expert on Ruby and Rails, have 15 years of expertise,(Also learn a
bit about machine learning,python, tensorflow, keras)
really good at backend development, though a bit weak on frontend,
let me know what I can help.
Post by Hassan Schroeder
On Tue, Nov 13, 2018 at 11:25 AM David Hughes
Post by David Hughes
I was wondering if I open sourced the site would your community be
interested in helping? We work directly with farmers and through the United
Nations. It really can be a very impactful project
Post by David Hughes
I would love to hear your views on whether open sourcing would be a
good idea and would people join in?
Besides a "yes" to open sourcing, I would suggest you look at other
communities and organizations as well. There are many efforts to
bring together socially conscious tech people and the projects that
need them: codecorps.org, codeforgood.io -- search for "tech" and
"social good" :-)
Good luck!
--
<javascript:>
Consulting Availability : Silicon Valley or remote
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David Hughes
2018-11-14 10:44:08 UTC
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excellent suggestions Hassan. Thanks. I will look those up and get back to
you when we open up our code. Have to talk to the Uni people about what
license we should use?
Post by Hassan Schroeder
On Tue, Nov 13, 2018 at 11:25 AM David Hughes
Post by David Hughes
I was wondering if I open sourced the site would your community be
interested in helping? We work directly with farmers and through the United
Nations. It really can be a very impactful project
Post by David Hughes
I would love to hear your views on whether open sourcing would be a good
idea and would people join in?
Besides a "yes" to open sourcing, I would suggest you look at other
communities and organizations as well. There are many efforts to
bring together socially conscious tech people and the projects that
need them: codecorps.org, codeforgood.io -- search for "tech" and
"social good" :-)
Good luck!
--
<javascript:>
Consulting Availability : Silicon Valley or remote
--
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Rob Jonson
2018-11-14 09:39:15 UTC
Permalink
Hi David,

re open sourcing the project. One thing you'll need to figure out is how
you handle incoming pull requests and who has authority to apply changes.
You won't want to just let anybody make changes - so that means you'll need
to find a trusted person who can invest a fairly significant chunk of time
in reviewing and accepting/declining input.
That person (or people) need to have a good overall understanding of the
whole project codebase.

It takes a fairly significant investment to do this properly as if done
half-heartedly then other developers who want to contribute will quickly
get put off.
(There is nothing worse than doing a bunch of work for free for a project
only to have that work sit un-used for weeks or months)

there could be a massive return for you if you get this to work properly -
but it will take time, effort and probably money to get it going.

cheers,

Rob
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David Hughes
2018-11-14 10:41:43 UTC
Permalink
Hi Rob
Many thanks. Really appreciate that.

I was thinking of a blended model where I continue to engage my RoR
developer who can push changes, check things. We could focus on immediate,
critical tasks and the community of volunteers could contribute on tasks
that are important (new features, code checking) but not immediate. As the
community completes these things we could check and push live.

*"find a trusted person who can invest a fairly significant chunk of time
in reviewing and accepting/declining input.*
*That person (or people) need to have a good overall understanding of the
whole project codebase."*

Maybe in time, such a person comes from the volunteer community. It could
also be I raise funds for such a person since I am constantly raising funds
from public sector (just not the kind of funds a start up would have)

Many thanks for the very useful insights

d
Post by Krishna Gundala
Hi David,
re open sourcing the project. One thing you'll need to figure out is how
you handle incoming pull requests and who has authority to apply changes.
You won't want to just let anybody make changes - so that means you'll
need to find a trusted person who can invest a fairly significant chunk of
time in reviewing and accepting/declining input.
That person (or people) need to have a good overall understanding of the
whole project codebase.
It takes a fairly significant investment to do this properly as if done
half-heartedly then other developers who want to contribute will quickly
get put off.
(There is nothing worse than doing a bunch of work for free for a project
only to have that work sit un-used for weeks or months)
there could be a massive return for you if you get this to work properly -
but it will take time, effort and probably money to get it going.
cheers,
Rob
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Wale Olaleye
2018-11-14 16:23:07 UTC
Permalink
David,

Before you opensource the project, you will want to have a Senior RoR
developer comb through to make sure the authentication credentials that
should be private have been removed from the source code. These could be
API keys, database passwords e.t.c. Even if it's removed from the current
version of the source code this information is available in the git
repository history, which is just a normal function of version control
systems... they allow you to go back into the past. So if you just click
the button and open source the project as-is you can open yourself to
several security risks. Perhaps the idea will be to cleanup secret info
from the app then port the files into a fresh git repo which of won't
contain the history. You will also need to ensure that for new code
development security errors like this are avoided. Same applies to the
android app if you want to opensource that.

Essentially my point is that to be successful at running an opensource
project in any language you need Sr software developers that are committed
to being gatekeepers of the code, else things can go downhill pretty
quickly. You might consider paying 1 or 2 trusted people to take on this
role. Additionally to get code contributions from developers you will need
to do some type of "marketing" to generate interest. Developers will not
just contribute code and keep contributing simply because the software is
opensource.


-Wale
http://railsfever.com/
https://www.linkedin.com/in/fullstackwebdeveloper
Post by David Hughes
Hi all
I am a scientist at Penn State University and the United Nations Food and
Agricultural Organisation. I work to help poor farmers in Africa and
elsewhere grow more food by combatting pests and diseases. There are two
ways we do this: an Android app that runs TensorFlow object detection
offline inside the food without a web connection (see here
http://youtu.be/NlpS-DhayQA The other way is through
an Open Access library on content called PlantVillage with a QA forum. This
platform is 6 years old and had around 8 million visitors with around
80-100k new month. https://plantvillage.psu.edu/ The platform is RoR
All of this is a public good, aimed at helping poor farmers who typically
earn a few dollars/day. I am spending a lot of money on developers (in
India) and I raise money with grant writing etc. I am having issues around
quality and cannot afford the necessary QA.
I was wondering if I open sourced the site would your community be
interested in helping? We work directly with farmers and through the United
Nations. It really can be a very impactful project
My goal is an AI-driven platform that is the number 1 resource in the
world for smallholder farmers around the world. All ad free and without
haresting their data to sell
I would love to hear your views on whether open sourcing would be a good
idea and would people join in?
Thanks
David
David Hughes
Dept Entomology & Biology,
Penn State
https://sites.psu.edu/hugheslab/
https://plantvillage.psu.edu/
@zombieantguy, @plantvillage
814 863 6073 (Office)















..
2018-2019, UN FAO Fellow, Rome and visiting professor at La Sapienza, Rome















..
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PlantVillage
2018-11-14 16:47:54 UTC
Permalink
Hi Wale
Many thanks

Yes, I have been discussing that issue with IT people here

And I would likely keep a developer on pay from the current team to serve that role


Yes, the marketing is key! I would hope to continue to generate interest and convince the community this is worth doing

I read newsletters are still good way for that?

What would your suggestions be?


THanks

David
Post by Krishna Gundala
David,
Before you opensource the project, you will want to have a Senior RoR developer comb through to make sure the authentication credentials that should be private have been removed from the source code. These could be API keys, database passwords e.t.c. Even if it's removed from the current version of the source code this information is available in the git repository history, which is just a normal function of version control systems... they allow you to go back into the past. So if you just click the button and open source the project as-is you can open yourself to several security risks. Perhaps the idea will be to cleanup secret info from the app then port the files into a fresh git repo which of won't contain the history. You will also need to ensure that for new code development security errors like this are avoided. Same applies to the android app if you want to opensource that.
Essentially my point is that to be successful at running an opensource project in any language you need Sr software developers that are committed to being gatekeepers of the code, else things can go downhill pretty quickly. You might consider paying 1 or 2 trusted people to take on this role. Additionally to get code contributions from developers you will need to do some type of "marketing" to generate interest. Developers will not just contribute code and keep contributing simply because the software is opensource.
-Wale
http://railsfever.com/ <http://railsfever.com/>
https://www.linkedin.com/in/fullstackwebdeveloper <https://www.linkedin.com/in/fullstackwebdeveloper>
Hi all
I am a scientist at Penn State University and the United Nations Food and Agricultural Organisation. I work to help poor farmers in Africa and elsewhere grow more food by combatting pests and diseases. There are two ways we do this: an Android app that runs TensorFlow object detection offline inside the food without a web connection (see here http://youtu.be/NlpS-DhayQA The other way is through an Open Access library on content called PlantVillage with a QA forum. This platform is 6 years old and had around 8 million visitors with around 80-100k new month. https://plantvillage.psu.edu/ <https://plantvillage.psu.edu/> The platform is RoR
All of this is a public good, aimed at helping poor farmers who typically earn a few dollars/day. I am spending a lot of money on developers (in India) and I raise money with grant writing etc. I am having issues around quality and cannot afford the necessary QA.
I was wondering if I open sourced the site would your community be interested in helping? We work directly with farmers and through the United Nations. It really can be a very impactful project
My goal is an AI-driven platform that is the number 1 resource in the world for smallholder farmers around the world. All ad free and without haresting their data to sell
I would love to hear your views on whether open sourcing would be a good idea and would people join in?
Thanks
David
David Hughes
Dept Entomology & Biology,
Penn State
https://sites.psu.edu/hugheslab/ <https://sites.psu.edu/hugheslab/>
https://plantvillage.psu.edu/ <https://plantvillage.psu.edu/>
@zombieantguy, @plantvillage
814 863 6073 (Office)















..
2018-2019, UN FAO Fellow, Rome and visiting professor at La Sapienza, Rome















..
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Emmanuel Abia
2018-11-14 18:02:50 UTC
Permalink
Count me in.

And to add to what Wale has said. After considering the entire architecture
of the web and mobile application, you might just open source a part of it
for a start and not the entire code base.
Post by PlantVillage
Hi Wale
Many thanks
Yes, I have been discussing that issue with IT people here
And I would likely keep a developer on pay from the current team to serve that role
Yes, the marketing is key! I would hope to continue to generate interest
and convince the community this is worth doing
I read newsletters are still good way for that?
What would your suggestions be?
THanks
David
David,
Before you opensource the project, you will want to have a Senior RoR
developer comb through to make sure the authentication credentials that
should be private have been removed from the source code. These could be
API keys, database passwords e.t.c. Even if it's removed from the current
version of the source code this information is available in the git
repository history, which is just a normal function of version control
systems... they allow you to go back into the past. So if you just click
the button and open source the project as-is you can open yourself to
several security risks. Perhaps the idea will be to cleanup secret info
from the app then port the files into a fresh git repo which of won't
contain the history. You will also need to ensure that for new code
development security errors like this are avoided. Same applies to the
android app if you want to opensource that.
Essentially my point is that to be successful at running an opensource
project in any language you need Sr software developers that are committed
to being gatekeepers of the code, else things can go downhill pretty
quickly. You might consider paying 1 or 2 trusted people to take on this
role. Additionally to get code contributions from developers you will need
to do some type of "marketing" to generate interest. Developers will not
just contribute code and keep contributing simply because the software is
opensource.
-Wale
http://railsfever.com/
https://www.linkedin.com/in/fullstackwebdeveloper
Post by David Hughes
Hi all
I am a scientist at Penn State University and the United Nations Food and
Agricultural Organisation. I work to help poor farmers in Africa and
elsewhere grow more food by combatting pests and diseases. There are two
ways we do this: an Android app that runs TensorFlow object detection
offline inside the food without a web connection (see here
http://youtu.be/NlpS-DhayQA The other way is through
an Open Access library on content called PlantVillage with a QA forum. This
platform is 6 years old and had around 8 million visitors with around
80-100k new month. https://plantvillage.psu.edu/ The platform is RoR
All of this is a public good, aimed at helping poor farmers who typically
earn a few dollars/day. I am spending a lot of money on developers (in
India) and I raise money with grant writing etc. I am having issues around
quality and cannot afford the necessary QA.
I was wondering if I open sourced the site would your community be
interested in helping? We work directly with farmers and through the United
Nations. It really can be a very impactful project
My goal is an AI-driven platform that is the number 1 resource in the
world for smallholder farmers around the world. All ad free and without
haresting their data to sell
I would love to hear your views on whether open sourcing would be a good
idea and would people join in?
Thanks
David
David Hughes
Dept Entomology & Biology,
Penn State
https://sites.psu.edu/hugheslab/
https://plantvillage.psu.edu/
@zombieantguy, @plantvillage
814 863 6073 (Office)















..
2018-2019, UN FAO Fellow, Rome and visiting professor at La Sapienza, Rome















..
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