Thanks to Ross Nesbitt for
this link.
“Perhaps the most powerful movement in the software industry
today is the continuing rise of ‘open-source’
development–producing successful applications such as the Linux OS
and the Apache Web Server.”
“Open source is a seemingly impossible development methodology
in which source code is developed and debugged by not one company
or even one group of individuals but rather by a fragmented and
distributed workforce simultaneously working toward a common goal.
Believe it or not, these individuals are likely to have never met
in person, and they provide most of their efforts on a volunteer
basis. Lastly, one caveat of the open-source movement is that
source code must be freely distributed to all customers and
competitors alike.”
“Can this be real? Is it a fad? Can distributed volunteer
developers really produce code that is reliable? Can open source
impact the software industry at large? How can business models
exist if all the code is exposed for free? Could open source impact
my business? The answers to these questions may be surprising to
you…”