[TOS] Open/Collaborative development as a focus for the textbook? (Re: First draft of textbook: introductory chapter (foreword?))

[adam hyde]

I hope no one will take offense, but I really think you guys are
spending too much time writing about what you will write about. These
problems will iron themselves out...just write it and work it out as you
go :)

adam


On Fri, 2009-09-11 at 09:39 -0700, Karsten Wade wrote:
> On Fri, Sep 11, 2009 at 03:51:27PM +0100, MJ Ray wrote:
> 
> > Yes, it'll be possible to fork and re-use it, but it's not just a
> > search-and-replace.  If the book doesn't mention any of the
> > philosophies which help to explain why we won't hide problems, why we
> > share bugfixes and why we prefer to release early release often, then
> > that's a thread which has to be woven through the book to make a
> > cookbook into a practical manual.  Some FOSS development practices
> > started from belief, before hard numbers supported them.
> 
> I admit to being confused, in that I cannot see how we can write a
> book that explains how to teach using a FLOSS methodology without
> covering those exact points -- not just the act of using then, but
> why.  It would be like a chemistry textbook explaining, "Don't put
> these rare metals in contact with water, they will explode," then not
> explaing *why* the reaction occurs.
> 
> It's for that reason I think Greg, who knows the subtleties of 'free'
> and 'open' here, believes it is a simple search-and-replace operation.
> Shouldn't we write in such a way that we embody all the
> principles/philosophies even if we called it "Mars moon magic"?
> 
> - Karsten
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Adam Hyde
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