Why Engineering and FOSS is Satisfying

Fri, 28 Mar 2008 20:56:34 +0000

I recently came across the post; why student programmers rant about business students with ideas . Putting my ideological belief in FOSS aside, I think it eloquently describes why I chose to return and pursue a PhD after a year spent studying engineering management (like an MBA - for those North American folks).

I also think it is highly applicable to FOSS. Many successful FOSS projects are born from engineers, the ‘decision to execute’ has already been made. As the article mentions, _’leadership and the ability to make decisions _is valuable, but only in groups with realizable ability to execute’. As a FOSS project evolves, the (normal?) combination of a BFDL and the constant freedom to fork keep the project relatively free of the ownership style disputes described in the post.

FOSS on John Stowers

Why Engineering and FOSS is Satisfying