Eric Raymond: The Cathedral and the Bazaar (1997) · 1997-05-27 · primary
Themes: Historical Arc
Safety and innovation trade off against one another: what makes a model safer makes it less capable or less widely available, so pushing on one goal costs ground on the other.
Linus coppers his bets, too. In case there *are* serious bugs, Linux kernel version are numbered in such a way that potential users can make a choice either to run the last version designated “stable” or to ride the cutting edge and risk bugs in order to get new features. This tactic is not yet formally imitated by most Linux hackers, but perhaps it should be; the fact that either choice is available makes both more attractive. [HBS]
Eric Raymond: The Cathedral and the Bazaar (1997) · 1997-05-27
But the problem with being clever and original in software design is that it gets to be a habit – you start reflexively making things cute and complicated when you should be keeping them robust and simple. I have had projects crash on me because I made this mistake, but I managed not to with fetchmail.
Eric Raymond: The Cathedral and the Bazaar (1997) · 1997-05-27
So I believe the fetchmail project succeeded partly because I restrained my tendency to be clever; this argues (at least) against design originality being essential for successful bazaar projects. And consider Linux. Suppose Linus Torvalds had been trying to pull off fundamental innovations in operating system design during the development; does it seem at all likely that the resulting kernel would be as stable and successful as what we have?
Eric Raymond: The Cathedral and the Bazaar (1997) · 1997-05-27
Open models move the binding scarcity to hardware — compute, chips and the networking between them.
Anyway, in a world of cheap PCs and fast Internet links, we find pretty consistently that the only really limiting resource is skilled attention. Open-source projects, when they founder, essentially never do so for want of machines or links or office space; they die only when the developers themselves lose interest.
Eric Raymond: The Cathedral and the Bazaar (1997) · 1997-05-27
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