as part of my presentation on open source software engineering, i pondered the benefits and pitfalls of the open source method. it occurred to me that the main advantages accrue in the long run, while the main problems are apparent in the short term. the challenge thus becomes how to breed the open source method with other methods, like agile methods, for the desired outcomes.

short-term issues

• constantly changing resources (“footprints” in the code, “rewrite orgies”)
• (often) no monetary incentives (who takes care of docs and testing?)
• lack of control (unreliable feature sets and delivery dates)
• conflicting goals (“do a bit of everything”)

long-term benefits

• Collective code ownership (merit drives reviews)
• Embrace change as the basic motivation (evolutionary fitness)
• Rapid feedback is a natural consequence (user innovation networks)
• (Potentially) very large talent pool (hedging, competition drives up quality)

in a nutshell: in the long run, darwinian pressures will guarantee an adequate solution. in the short term, agile methods achieve some of the same effects while satisfying budgetary and time constraints.
wyona tackles these issues by:

• striving for generic functionality
• short product cycles
• frequent synchronization points with the main line
• enticing customers to seek out scale (by sticking with standards)
• enticing customers to donate back aggressively
• developing customer projects in the open whenever possible
• seeking out coopetitive opportunities
• deriving customer value by relentless commoditization of the value stack

uh, the last few items reek of consultese. fix them with the bullfighter.