Proprietary vs. Open Source development analogy:
like training-for-a-race vs. running-a-race
In reading about the new (to me, at least) transactional database engine for MySQL (v >= 5.1) called the PrimeBase XT storage engine (PBXT) I ran across an interview with its creator, Paul McCullagh. It seems that Paul was from the proprietary software development world, and was surprised by the response to the Open Source community around this project, and the new friends he has found. He felt it was a very different environment from what he was used to. In his words, from the article:
I like to take marathon running as an example. Think of the difference between training for a marathon and running a race. The closed source industry is like training for a marathon. You are basically on your own. The open source community is like running a race. Not because you want to win. Most people don't run a marathon to win, they run to complete. But during the race you experience a comradeship and sense of doing something together that makes running much easier then in training.

Going by this comparison, I have been in training too long.


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