Google's Open Source Chief Explains Why Open Source Is "Cruel"

Google's open source lead, Chris DiBona, was interviewed by Jodi Biddle of Red Hat, and one of the topics he discussed was "why open source is cruel." DiBona pointed out that software engineering management in the software industry does not favor distributed development, and it is difficult for a company to function when relying on a distributed, heterogeneous team.

However, the open source world has created some world-class software. Why? DiBona believes the reason is that the open source model only works for highly efficient developers, while other types of developers are ignored. Therefore, this model is very harsh and cruel, as those who do not contribute are excluded and treated unfriendly. He believes that the ability to fork an open source project is a very important feature. If developers are expelled for various reasons, they can create a branch. If their ideas and execution surpass the old project, they will replace it, and the original project developers who once rejected them now become the ones being rejected. The survival-of-the-fittest mechanism in the open source world is very cruel but works extremely effectively, producing high-quality software.