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 brutal."

DiBona pointed out that software engineering management in the software industry does not favor distributed development. It is challenging for a company to function when it relies 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 overlooked. Therefore, this model is extremely demanding and harsh, as those who do not contribute are excluded or treated unfriendly. He believes that the ability to fork open source projects is a very important feature. If developers are expelled for various reasons, they can create a fork, and if their ideas and execution surpass the old project, they will replace it. The original project's developers, who once rejected them, now become the ones being rejected. The survival-of-the-fittest mechanism in the open source world is very brutal but operates extremely effectively, producing high-quality software.