On Mar 23, 2006, at 10:31 PM, Joseph Dal Molin wrote: > Will Ross wrote: >> Joseph, >> >> I disagree on your community challenge. I think the "community" >> aspect of open source is not only over rated, it is in fact a >> negative, a risk factor to be considered. > > I guess its a matter of perspective....in the early stages of a > project > ....yes community can pose a significant negative risk factor.... I > don't agree that that remains to be true once critical mass of > adoption > is achieved.
Once the critical mass of adoption is achieved, project forking, or the spawning of lookalike projects, is added to the risk calculus. I am not an economist, but my gut tells me the prospect of a community of users is a net neutral, even if the end result is a project that moves forward, adds functionality, achieves a high adoption rate and features a lot of active participants committing improvements. One of the costs of a community is the high number of tasks the project leaders must undertake to keep a core goal in focus, and to constantly re-teach the community that the project has a focus, and to police the community so that collaboration does not dissipate the focus. [wr] - - - - - - - - will ross project manager mendocino informatics 216 west perkins street, suite 206 ukiah, california 95482 usa 707.272.7255 [voice] 707.462.5015 [fax] www.minformatics.com - - - - - - - - Yahoo! Groups Links <*> To visit your group on the web, go to: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/openhealth/ <*> To unsubscribe from this group, send an email to: [EMAIL PROTECTED] <*> Your use of Yahoo! Groups is subject to: http://docs.yahoo.com/info/terms/