Windows Phone Thoughts: Open-Source Software Development: Doomed From the Start?

"Here is the core argument: There are a thousand Open Source projects that get started out of need or fun, are maintained for awhile for fame, then get abandoned because there is no reason to go on. Eventually, the programmers come to understand that "users" are people who yell at you to fix stuff. So Open Source is inherently flawed. It only works because otherwise unknown programmers can get 15 minutes of fame using the Internet as low-barrier entry into introducing their skill to the world. Since they are introverted nobodies, getting a few emails from unknown users that say "good job!" feels great. But in time, most Open Source projects grind to a halt. The ones that survive are projects like Linux and Apache that have substantial involvement by PAID engineers. One could argue, in fact, that the idea of Open Source software being created by volunteers is a misnomer. Even Linus Torvalds is paid by Transmeta to be the God of Linux."

Robert X. Cringely's weekly columns are one of the few "must read" Web columns that I keep track of. This guy is just such a monster thinker - I love watching the gears in his head turn. This is a bit off-topic, but it has a lot of parallels in the Pocket PC software world as well. Give his column a read and tell me what you think (that SIDS info sure is sad...).