LinuxWorld.com: What's Wrong with the Open Source Community?

"There's no question that the Open Source community has a lot going for it. Besides a staggering amount of developer power that can be turned against important problems, the Open Source movement also has a passion and commitment to its work that the commercial software world often envies. But sometimes, the Open Source community can be its own worst enemy. Here are a few reasons why.

"1. Too many developers 'scratch the same itch.'

"We hear that Open Source developers come up with new ideas because they 'had an itch to scratch.' In other words, there was some need they had for a new application, and they 'scratched' it by coming up with a tool. The problem is, it’s not uncommon to end up with two or three (or more!) different packages doing the same thing. For a specific example, look at what’s happened with the Linux sound systems, where there are now several competing packages that have to be supported by each distribution. Or in the Java world, look at how many competing MVC frameworks there are now for JSP development..."

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