[ILUG-BOM] Sun Ultra SPARC T1

[Kenneth Gonsalves]

On 19-Jan-07, at 11:19 AM, Vihan Pandey wrote:

> Anyway opinions may differ but mutual respect and discussion do exist.
> Moreover the differences add to a more diverse community thus  
> furthering
> one's understanding.
>
> 'Tis the FOSS way :-)

my thesis is this: just because source is released under some  
license, that does not make a project a foss project. Or rather a  
true foss project. The criterion for a true foss project is *not* the  
license chosen or the fact that the source is available, *but* the  
development model followed. The closer it is to the bazaar model of  
development, the better chance it has of surviving. We tend to lose  
sight of this very often. And why is this important?

If you look at wikipedia, around 850 people have contributed 50% of  
the english content. The rest is contributed by tens of thousands of  
people. And a lot of this contribution is one-off contribution. And  
it is these one-offs or minor contributions that make up half of  
wikipedia. A developmental environment that efficiently harvests  
these 'minor' contributions is a healthy 'fossy' environment. Which  
is why I dont like the environment provided by mono or mysql where a  
patch will not be accepted unless copyright is assigned.

Yes, in most projects, the core team with commit rights, the main  
contributors are few. Sometimes just one person. But the community  
around the project is important. Does sun have the culture to build  
such a community? Will some outsider be allowed into the inner circle  
to decide directions. Are decsions made by a meritocracy - or by the  
company heirarchy. These are the important things.


-- 
regards

Kenneth Gonsalves
Associate, NRC-FOSS
lawgon at au-kbc.org
http://nrcfosshelpline.in/web/