Open Source - the Ignorance of Crowds

[David Farber <dave () farber net>]

Begin forwarded message:

From: dewayne () warpspeed com (Dewayne Hendricks)
Date: June 5, 2007 2:45:22 PM EDT
To: Dewayne-Net Technology List <xyzzy () warpspeed com>
Subject: [Dewayne-Net] Open Source - the Ignorance of Crowds

[Note:  I'm cross posting this from Bill St. Arnaud's list.  DLH]

From: "Bill St.Arnaud" <bill.st.arnaud () canarie ca>
Date: June 5, 2007 11:06:42 AM PDT
To: <news () canarie ca>
Subject: [CAnet - news] Open Source - the Ignorance of Crowds

For more information on this item please visit my blog at
<http://billstarnaud.blogspot.com/>
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[There have been several good articles and discussion on some lists  
about
the value of open source programming especially related to some of its
inherent limitations. I agree with most critics about the challenges  
of open
source with respect to large software projects. But to my mind the  
debate is
becoming increasingly irrelevant.  The problem is not about the pros and
cons of open source - but about large monolith programming projects.   
Web
services, Web 2.0, etc is slowly eliminating the need for such  
architectural
approaches to solving large complex problems. Instead programmers and
computer scientists are recognizing that a lot of this work can be
incorporated into stand alone web services linked across the  
network.  The
modules can be developed independently by small teams of open source
developers, where the same module can be re-used by many different
applications.  The value no longer remains resident in the software  
but how
you mash up these services together to create new innovative solutions.
Thanks to Frank Coluccio and Andrew Odlyzko for these pointers -- BSA]


The Ignorance of Crowds
by Nicholas G. Carr
strategy+business
Issue 47 | Summer 2007

The open source model can play an important role in innovation, but know
its limitations. Ten years ago, on May 22, 1997, a little-known software
programmer from Pennsylvania named Eric Raymond presented a paper at a
technology conference in Wurzburg, Germany. Titled The Cathedral and the
Bazaar the paper caused an immediate stir, and its renown has only  
grown in
the years since. It is now widely considered one of the seminal  
documents in
the history of the software industry.

Continued at: <http://www.strategy-business.com/press/freearticle/07204>

Open Source Software Development as a Special Type of Academic Research

<http://www.firstmonday.org/issues/issue4_10/bezroukov>

A Second Look at the Cathedral and Bazaar

<http://www.firstmonday.org/issues/issue4_12/bezroukov>
--


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