[ Thanks to e5rebel
for this link. ]
“At its best Open Source software is about accelerating the pace
of innovation by enabling unconnected groups to collaborate across
organisational borders. It is a software development process that
allows people to freely share ideas and implementations among a
community of peers while still focusing on their own local needs
and business drivers.“To gain the maximum benefit from this development process it is
necessary for participants to relax their grip on the software they
produce. There can be no single individual or organisation that
owns the code since ownership implies control and unnecessary
control limits innovation in a community led project“For many however, the concept of community owned software
presents a problem. Community management and collaboration is
usually seen as a slow process. For many collaboration is a luxury
that is only appropriate when time is available. Unfortunately this
misunderstanding prevents a full engagement with open source. In
some cases open source is avoided entirely. In others the code is
forked and any local customisations are kept local, which result s
in higher maintenance costs in the long term”