The four capital mistakes of open source

“How do you develop a successful open source business that
lasts? Of the more than 250,000 open source projects on
SourceForge, few will be successful at that goal. But one way they
might think about how to do it is by doing it in reverse: What
should an open source project or business not do?

“The negative advice has existed since ancient times, from one
religion to another. The Ten Commandments are for the most part
written as what not to do. We can go for a short walk or drive
around our neighborhood: road signs give us, in very short messages
we can read while driving, negative advice. Ask Warren Buffett
about finance. He’ll tell you “Rule #1 is ‘Don’t lose money,’ and
Rule #2 is… ‘Don’t lose money'”.

“Open source can also be better understood through negative
advice. The latter can be back-tested and endure the test of time.
By following a positive framework (but without falling into
platonicity), one can slightly increase the chances of success. But
by ignoring a negative one, you will most certainly fail.”

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