According to Richard Gooch:
> And if we're going to be true to our ideals here, all that matters
> is the code, not who wrote it or their behaviour.
I disagree mildly. My experience in the Perl community has taught me
that tolerating or even celebrating buttheads who happen to be
technically prolific is, in the end, very costly. It creates a
skin-thickness requirement. Some who might have contributed leave
rather than putting up with verbal abuse. A once-friendly community
is be sacrificed on the altar of technical advancement... ironically,
to the eventual detriment of both.
Open source development is a cooperative venture. It is therefore
dangerous to accept a person's contributions without also considering
the eventual costs of rewarding him and keeping him hanging around.
'What does it benefit a [project] to gain [world domination],
but lose [its own sense of community]?'
Some free gifts are too expensive to accept.
--
Chip Salzenberg - a.k.a. - <chip@valinux.com>
"I wanted to play hopscotch with the impenetrable mystery of existence,
but he stepped in a wormhole and had to go in early." // MST3K
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This archive was generated by hypermail 2b29 : Thu Jun 15 2000 - 21:00:33 EST