Disclaimer: until a couple of months ago, I was paid to work full-time on Open-Source Software (OSS) software in the Open Educational Resources (OER) space. There’s a distinct possibility that I’m biased in some way as a result. There’s also the possibility that working in OSS and OER for over four years might mean that my opinions are backed by experience. You get to decide. The symptom Babel is used by millions, so why are we running out of money?
Ever wondered why management practices in web software are dominated by short term concerns that are self-destructive in the long term? Because managers know what they are supposed to do, even if they don’t exactly know why. Speed is of the essence because you aren’t doing anything unique. You aren’t creating tech of your own or building on a hard-earned understanding of the clientele. You are using your funding to race against others to see who manages to squeeze the most business out of the underlying OSS before the funding runs out.
Very interesting article!
I found that quite profound.