The cons of the Apache Software Foundation
November 19th, 2005Susie over at the Apache Marketing Blog (is this official???) writes some thoughts on why your project should be at the ASF.. While I like the ASF and I work on some projects there, I feel like the article is both horribly idealistic and one sided.
My main gripe is the idea that community results in a better product. Susie tries to convince the ActiveGrid project that Apache is the place to be.
Why not foster the kind of community that could create the kind of momentum you’d want to spread a message of this magnitude? A well marshalled community usually trumps one single voice (no matter how articulate it is) in beating the drum.
I don’t agree with this at all. One only needs to look at Apache to find this is not the case. Cosinder the Avalon project. Too many voices couldn’t create a coherent vision. As Eliotte Harold from XOM has demonstrated cathedral development can result in a much cleaner API and much better software.
This isn’t to say I don’t like Apache. I use software from Apache all the time and am a committer there. It just isn’t for everyone and doesn’t necessarily result in better software.
November 22nd, 2005 at 4:20 pm
Yes, Apache comes with “overhead”! Its a feature
Aaron responds to a post from Dan which points out how idealistic some apache people paint apache . Interesting stuff. Three people with solid opinions.
While I like the ASF and I work on some projects there, I feel like the article is both ho