The Cathedral and the Bazaar.

[Eric W. Biederman]

>>>>> "Fare" == Fare Rideau <rideau@ens.fr> writes:

>> : Jerry Fass
>> Here is a very useful, and fascinating, document.
>> It shows how free software systems evolve,
>> via theory *and* experiment.
>> Anyone interested in free software should read it.
>> If implemented for Tunes, it can aid the Tunes effort.

Fare> Yeah, and the original author's address for the document is
Fare> http://www.ccil.org/~esr/writings/cathedral.html
Fare> It also includes RealAudio recordings of a speech on which
Fare> the article is based.

Fare> The article has been pointed to by the Tunes Review subproject for
Fare> a long time (almost ever since the article was available on the Web).
Fare> See
Fare> http://www.eleves.ens.fr:8080/home/rideau/Tunes/Review/Other.html

>> It may explain why Tunes progress is so slow.
Fare> The real reason is that I'm a lazy slob, unfit to manage a project.
Fare> But well, until someone takes over, project management falls back to me.
Fare> I've only finished now to fill my tunes.org registration form.

[I thought lazy was part of the definition of being a hacker]

Fare> The Bazaar style of development would require that we release often.
Fare> But release what? We don't have anything particular to release;
Fare> we don't even have a clear design. It's in most part my fault.
Fare> Would someone maintain a list of tasks that can be done for Tunes *now*?

But the Bazaar style approxiamentily says before you really start
going public with something, you have a working source base.  It
doesn't have to be anything great, but it has to be something that
somewhat works.  A total system.

It could also be used with code where most of the code doesn't work at
all but someone has laid enough dummy so it is easy to see the
intermodule dependancies.

This is where tunes fails.  It never gets as far as a working source
base.  Considering the amount of traffic I have seen on this list at
times, if tunes ever had even a part that was a working source base it
should evolve quickly.

Also a working source base tends to clear up many theoretical points
of debate and put them in perspective.  As well as making things
approach a put up or shut up attitude.

As tunes sits now it seems like a great survey project, that I really
can't participate in because I can't get myself to write worth beans.
Besides the impression of heading nowhere.

Eric