Open Source Software and the Curse of Plenty

“Maybe you saw this blog entry in July: ‘The curse of plenty:
what El Mariachi tells us about writing software’ by Neil Davidson.
‘El Mariachi’ was Robert Rodriguez’ 1992 directorial debut, a
feature length film reportedly produced for the minuscule sum of
$7,000. By the 1990s, average feature film budgets were hitting $50
million; big-budget movies now routinely cost hundreds of millions
today. How did Rodriguez do it? And what does that have to do with
business intelligence and open source software?

“Davidson noted that Bill Buxton pointed out the similarity of
producing software and producing movies. It is an apt metaphor:
both commercial movies and commercial software products are usually
big, complicated and expensive enterprises; both are usually
undertaken by highly skilled executives and backed by deep-pocketed
investors; and both are driven by two sometimes conflicting goals:
to produce the best, most incredibly great product possible–while
generating the best return on investment possible…”

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