Open source or open community? Yet another Wikipedia debate (TechMeme to read the opinions). But this quote from Michael Arrington struck me as most interesting: “The wikipedia community has completely intimidated me to the point where making a change to that site is unthinkable.” The great thing about Wikis in general, is that they’re technically approchable: just click the edit button. But what about human barriers? Every so often, I see the same thing in open source projects: stakeholders and processes that intimidate casual contributors. Open source and open community are two different things. Wikipedia got the open source part right.
Shut up or pay. w.a.g. weighs in: “Criticism does not incur an obligation to participate in fixing the thing that annoys you.” Yeah, I’m “criticizing” which sounds like I’m bitching, to which the usual response is: “Hey, if you don’t like, fix it. You’ve got the source.” But as w.a.g puts it: is this a playground or a product? I know what keeps me away, but have no clue how to fix it, or if it’s even fixable. It might just be the best solution that works. But if it’s a product, and I’m voting with my feet, then my opinion counts as something. As a product manager, would you like to know that people are not using your product, or do you just tell them to fix it or shut up?
Double-edge sword. And speaking of open source, looks like Microsoft is doing a good job exterminating open source in its very own back yard. It’s a free market (no pun intended), and open source developers must realize that Microsoft is free to compete with them. Will Microsoft triumph? It would if its customers are single-vendor minded. In which case, it will just prove that there is no market for open source around Microsoft. And what about all the talent and motivated developers? I think Microsoft is missing a big part of its potential community, only because Microsoft doesn’t know how to measure that. Believing your own FUD is a double-edge sword.
In Ads we trust. Another Monday morning, another round of startup and partnership announcements. And they all have one thing in common: together they will serve you more ads! They also provide some ancillary service they hope you’ll find useful to stick around, but basically they’re a platform for serving ads. That couldn’t possibly be bad, because the service is free. But you know what I’ve been doing the past two weeks? Shopping. Airline tickets, computers and some other high priced items. And I like the Web 2.0 experience, it brings the relevant information to the top. Recommendations, reviews, related items, cheap deals. Not a single ad viewed or clicked. Are we seeing a Web ad bubble?