1. It may have been a fine cookie. But, since no single person played a central role in its creation, it didn’t seem to anyone to be a fine cookie.

    Malcolm Gladwell: The Bakeoff

    For years now, whenever the subject of open source product design has come up in conversation, I’ve mentioned this 2005 Malcolm Gladwell New Yorker piece about Steve Gundrum, a tech-minded Silicon Valley baker who decided to pit three software development methodologies (open source, XP, and traditional hierarchical R&D) against each other in a battle to develop the ultimate low-fat cookie.

    If you’ve followed the history of projects like Chandler, you’ll probably recognize the “Dream Team” of expert bakers convened by Gundrum as his “open source” group falling into the same sorts of traps (a lack of coherent vision, a reluctance to discount any idea, an obsession with novel and exotic techniques, a mounting frustration as individual contributors struggle to be heard). In the end, they turn in a passable but uninspiring product, while the traditional R&D team wins the competition by acting on a bit of clever insight from its leader.

    Cookie baking isn’t a perfect analogy to software development, but I’ve always loved this article because it cleverly illustrates why open source tends to produce competent products that no one really loves, while the traditional R&D approach used by companies like Apple produces the iPod and iPhone. Plus, you learn a lot about the amount of engineering that goes into snack food.

Notes

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