Christian "naddy" Weisgerber:
> I'm a bit involved in the Open Source scene. (From what I read on
> this list I gather that for most participants here the Open Source
> movement is rather obscure.) Collaborative projects there are
> typically developed by teleworking only. Social interaction in
> the flesh just isn't an option, so it works without.
Thanks for posting this Christian (or should I call you naddy?). I know just
a bit more than bugger-all about how Open Source is done, and have been
meaning to find out more for a while. Of particular interest to me, it does
seem to be a great example of the workability of teleworking.
Would you mind posting in a bit more detail about the nitty-gritty of the
personal dynamics & group dynamics, all the people stuff which makes or
breaks projects, in the world of open source? That goes for anyone else with
first hand experience, by the way.
>
> As an example, let's consider the OpenBSD project, which provides
> a full-fledged unix operating system widely considered to be the
> most secure one around. There are a few dozen developers, i.e.
> people with write access to the source tree, who are spread all
> over the globe.
>
> Communication is done synchronously by way of a private chat system
> and asynchronously by E-mail. Occasionally, developers bump into
> each other at trade shows and have a beer together. Once or twice
> a year, some developers manage to meet somewhere for a few days to
> hack (i.e. develop) together. But for practical purposes, and when
> compared to usual office interactions, developers simply don't meet
> each other in person, and many never ever do.
>
> Despite these circumstances, work progresses.
>
The open source movement must already have a good idea about which project
management models work for highly distributed teleworking groups, and which
ones don't; there's much for commercial orgs to learn here.
Whilst confessing my ignorance of the implementation details of successful
open source projects, I must say I'm not convinced by those people who push
it as a silver bullet for software development, basically implying that the
need for management dissapears. That sounds suspiciously like BS. I'd be
very interested in learning more about the failures, actually; I imagine
they shed a great deal of light on what's feasible and what's not.
> Of course, Open Source projects are hardly representative of the
> common workplace. We're dealing with highly motivated and highly
> qualified people who *want* to collaborate, rather than a set of
> so-so employees who do the minimum required to get the next paycheck.
>
> The personal distance introduced by teleworking may also have
> advantages. There's little gossip. Who's sleeping with whom isn't
> an issue and doesn't alienate co-workers. Some people still can't
> work with certain others--it would be interesting to see whether
> personal contact would lead to the same groupings.
>
I think you are absolutely correct in the assessment that teleworking
actually has some advantages (and disadvantages) in terms of group dynamics,
when compared with traditional, centrally located groups. I've got a bunch
of thoughts about this, which also relate back to the recent Cities/Clusters
thread, which I'll try to organize, and will post seperately.
Emlyn
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