ArgoUML Project

These are the fundamentals about how the ArgoUML Project is run and also some fundamentals on Open Source. If you wonder how this could really work you should read some Open Source literature like "The Cathedral and the Bazaar" or some GNU or Linux statement.

Open Source

ArgoUML is an Open Source project. This means several things:

No funding

The ArgoUML Project operates without funding. This means several things:

There are also problems to work without funding but the solutions we are using to these problems are well-established in the Open Source world and should come as no surprise. I have listed some of the problems and solutions here:

Users and developers

As with most of the not funded Open Source projects the primary incentive for our developers is their own personal need. This means that a problem is solved and a feature is added when one of the developers of ArgoUML finds it important enough to spend enough time on. In this there is no big difference between a Developer of ArgoUML and a User of ArgoUML. If a User finds a problem important enough to spend enough time on he can do so and send the solution to the project for inclusion into ArgoUML.

On the other hand, a Developer of ArgoUML that doesn't regularly use UML and ArgoUML will loose sight of what features are important and what are not. Eventually there will be nothing in ArgoUML that he finds important enough and he will then stop contributing to the project.

Because of this cycle the project needs to continuously find and engage new developers among the most interested users. To be able to do so we are continuously working on improving also the documentation and tools to allow for as many as possible to contribute. A small contribution might be followed by a bigger one and then an even bigger one like responsibility for some part of the code that is an important role in the project.

The developers' mailing list is open to everyone to discuss what you want to do to improve ArgoUML. For ideas you can also see the ArgoUML JobJar or the list of open issues in Issuezilla.

Other things about the project

If you have any questions, comments, or suggestions, join the developers' mailing list and start the discussion there.

If you are reporting a bug in ArgoUML, please use Issuezilla. Please check if the same bug has been seen before and if so, just add your additional observations to it.

You don't need to be a UML or Java expert to contribute. There are a lot of things to do for a wide range of skills.

The history of the ArgoUML Project is described on the history page.