In Chapter 3 of Stephen Weber's The Success of Open Source, there was a listing of eight "General Principles" contained within the chapter. Last week, we discussed in class the five pillars of "The Open Source Way."
1. What are the titles of each Pillar?
1. Open Exchange - This pillar states that we are able to learn much more when information is freely and openly available, and that this is crucial to establishing an environment for people to learn and build on existing ideas.
2. Participation - This pillar states that when we are able to work with each other freely and voluntarily, we can create more, and with enough collaboration, even the biggest problems can be solved
3. Rapid Prototyping - This pillar states that by constantly releasing what we have, we can test the product and find and solve problems faster.
4. Meritocracy - This pillar states that it is important for the best ideas to prevail, that way the best work is pushed to production.
5. Community - This pillar states that by building a community, we can maximize our ability to create because a large group can quickly accomplish things that an individual never would be able to.
2. What are the titles of each General Principle?
1. Make it interesting and make sure it happens - contributors must express their ideas in a way that makes others want to get involved.
2. Scratch an itch - contributors will work on something to make it better for themselves or to adapt something.
3. Minimize how many times you have to reinvent the wheel - contributors will work on something to minimize how many times the same process must be done.
4. Solve problems through parallel work processes whenever possible - Multiple contributors working on different problems simultaneously greatly increases how quickly work can get done.
5. Leverage the law of large numbers - Contributors use their large numbers to accomplish great feats.
6. Document what you do - Contributors will document their work for others to understand and look back on.
7. Release early and release often - Contributors will release what they have as soon as possible to test and fix bugs quickly.
8. Talk a lot - Conversation allows contributors to efficiently collaborate and understand the direction of a project.
3. What are the similarities between Weber's eight principles, and the five pillars?
Weber's eight principles and the five pillars go hand in hand. They are very similar and touch on a lot of the same points. The eight principles discuss what people need to do when involved in the creation of open source software, and the pillars explain what good can come if people follow the principles and create open source software the correct way. For example, the principles "Solving problems through parallel work processes" and "Releasing early and often" both support the pillar of "Rapid Prototyping". By constantly working parallel with others and by always releasing work, the software can be rapidly tested to find and fix problems. Similarly, the principles "Document what you do" and "Talk a lot" support the pillar of "Community" in that by documenting and discussing what you do, you help build a positive efficient community. By talking a lot and by "scratching an itch", people also support the pillar of "Participation" by participating in working on the project. These are just some examples of how each of the principles support each of the pillars, and how they touch on very similar aspects of open source software.
4. What are the differences?
The main differences between the eight principles and the five pillars are in what each set actually is. The eight principles explain what people involved in open source projects ideally do, and the pillars represent the Open Source Way. Essentially, the principles explain what contributors are doing to the open source projects and why they are working on the projects, but the pillars describe what good comes out of open source projects and what the aspects of open source are. Where the principles are about the people working on open source software, the pillars are about the process and what open source software achieves in establishing.
5. Bonus: Who's "keen analysis" did Weber "Draw Heavily" upon?"
Weber "Drew Heavily" upon the "keen analysis" of the open source process by Eric Raymond.
6. Double-Bonus: What was the title of this "keen analysis." (Hint: Weber hinted at the title when he was talking about Cathedrals earlier in the chapter.)
The title of this "keen analysis" is "The Cathedral and the Bazaar".
7. Triple-Bonus: Where can this keen analysis be found? (Answer in URL form, i.e. http://placeofkeenanalysisis.com/analysis)
This "keen analysis can be found here: http://www.catb.org/esr/writings/cathedral-bazaar/
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