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
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