[linux-audio-dev] Evolutionary Development, was: [ANN] First public release of Lindrum v 0.5.1

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Subject: [linux-audio-dev] Evolutionary Development, was: [ANN] First public release of Lindrum v 0.5.1
From: Robert Jonsson (robert.jonsson_AT_dataductus.se)
Date: Tue Mar 02 2004 - 09:35:06 EET


Hi,

> I looked into hydrogen code. To learn. I looked into lot of little projects
> code. Dead projects. To learn. And IMHO they're not useless. Maybe my
> project will be dead at the end of the year. But then i made my experience
> and still can join hydrogen or other projects.
>

I agree with you and I don't think that you, or anybody else spend their times
badly if they start new projects, on the contrary, the more the merrier! :)

The main requirement when you are about to create something is motivation. If
you don't have that and start poking at something you will sooner or later
run out of steam, unless you have an iron will.
This might be the case if someone tells you which project project to start on,
it'll work for a while, but then it's quite probable that you would lose
interest.

I've always argued that if you zoom out and look at Open Source development
from a distance it is evolutionary. Apps appear and die away all the time,
only the ones with good life force will continue to strive.
This life force can be made of many things.
For example: if the app interests a lot of people and they have found common
ground in developing it together, or the app has a very stubborn lone
developer that just won't give up.
Both these kinds of apps will continue to live and possibly grow into
something huge.
Whereas some apps are started out of a need/interest but didn't attract any
immediate attention and the developer lost interest, they will sooner or
later die away. There is nothing wrong with that.

This does also imply that open source development on a large scale is a rather
slow process (not that any software development is fast), and we that are now
participating in Linux Audio are working in (my opinion anyway) a very young
development arena so diversity (or lack of direction if you will) is only
natural at this instance in time. The more specialized projects that attract
lots of developers _will_ come (there already exist a good bunch).

Of course the analogy isn't perfect, (or we would have to wait millions of
years :-D) with clever management we can increase the speed and skip a few
iterations. Which is how I for instance would describe the success of Jack.

My point is though that you can't force people into doing what they do not
have any immediate interest in, their time is better spent making a larger
base of developers overall, who knows, perhaps it's _their_ app that got it
_right_. Not the possible predecessor.
And even if their app fail, they would have learned something that they can
later make use of, and the code would still be available as evidence that
there once was a project in that vein. Even if the code in itself could not
be reused it might serve as inspiration for others to start something.

Sorry for being long winding,
Robert


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