Forking is a Feature
Sep 13, 2010, 12:34 (0 Talkback[s])
"While Linus Torvalds is best known as the creator of Linux,
it's one of his more geeky creations, and the social implications
of its design, that may well end up being his greatest legacy.
Because Linus has, in just a few short years, changed the social
dynamic around forking, turning the idea of multiple versions of a
work from a cultural weakness into a cultural strength. Perhaps the
technologies that let us easily collaborate together online have
finally matured enough to let our work reflect the reality that
some problems are better solved with lots of different efforts
instead of one committee-built compromise.
"The idea of "open source" in the technology world is really a
set of cultural beliefs, despite usually masquerading as technical
or legal choices made by a community. All cultures have norms, and
standards of behavior, and most importantly, they have behaviors
they consider antisocial or destructive."
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