What could be done to improve the OM development process?

[Jay Vaughan]

> Explain to me the reasoning behind forking the software at this point.
> What does it accomplish, besides paying lip service
> to choice?  I'm thinking of the Bible story of Solomon and the two
> mothers here.  What good is half a baby?  Wait until there's something
> /worth/ forking.
> Can anyone name a product that succeeded by encouraging everyone to  
> fork
> immediately?  I can't think of any examples.  F/OSS gives you the
> /ability/ to fork, but that doesn't
> mean it's always a good idea or a goal in and of itself.  In fact, I
> think the decision to fork is one that should be made with some
> gravity.  There's a whole world between the cathedral and
> the bazaar.



It really boils down to this: encouraging mass forkage in the  
community is a closed-sourcers weapon against the establishment of a  
stable community.  Microsoft - and others who wish to combat the open  
source phenomenon - widely encourage forking as it is a sure-fire way  
to kill public interest in a project.  After all, with too many forks,  
eventually people give up in the confusion.


;
--
Jay Vaughan