Date: Sat, 3 Feb 2001 13:11:59 +0100 From: Rahul Siddharthan <rsidd@physics.iisc.ernet.in> To: Terry Lambert <tlambert@primenet.com> Cc: j mckitrick <jcm@FreeBSD-uk.eu.org>, freebsd-chat@FreeBSD.ORG Subject: Re: quote about open source Message-ID: <20010203131159.G94275@lpt.ens.fr> In-Reply-To: <200102022245.PAA15968@usr08.primenet.com>; from tlambert@primenet.com on Fri, Feb 02, 2001 at 10:45:32PM %2B0000 References: <20010202140505.B91552@dogma.freebsd-uk.eu.org> <200102022245.PAA15968@usr08.primenet.com>
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> Open Source projects frequently discuss the evolution of their > project; innovation really requires revolution, not evolution, > for it to be innovation. > > Most innovation does not come out of the processes of large > projects or companies, Open Source or commercial, academic or > professional, research or project developement. It comes out > of small groups, usually with 6 or fewer members, and usually > driven by a goal that has been defined in advance. The small > amount of innovation which doesn't fit this mold is accidental, > serendipitous. I disagree with that. A truly revolutionary idea is always "accidental, serendipitous". Of course, it seems to happen more to some people than to others; that's a characteristic of their personalities, that they don't think along conventional lines. But you cannot decide to have a revolutionary idea, and you can't set up a small group of 6 people and tell them to have a revolutionary idea. Either it comes or it doesn't. It may well come when you're looking for something quite different. What your group of 6 people may do is develop a new and better compression scheme, natural language processing system, whatever. But that's evolution, not revolution. In hardware matters (new kinds of storage media, new processes for fabricating chips, etc) such advances seem to come from much larger, and very well funded, groups. Can you name any "revolutionary" ideas that actually came out of small groups which were set up to look for revolutionary ideas, or from individuals who planned to look for such ideas anyway? R To Unsubscribe: send mail to majordomo@FreeBSD.org with "unsubscribe freebsd-chat" in the body of the message
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