I want to come back to Seb's blog post here because he's given the best summary of the open source mentality in one paragraph that I've seen yet.
"I’m going to try to build a totally great new thing. It’s going to be a lot of work, but it will be worth it because it’s going to be so useful and cool. Gosh, it would be helpful if other people worked on it with me, because this is a lonely pursuit and having others work with me will help me know I’m not chasing after a windmill.
If somebody wants to work on it with me, I’m going to try hard to give them what they need to work on it. But hell, even if somebody tells me they used it and found six problems in it, that’s motivating; that gives me something to strive for. It means I have (or had) a user. Users are awesome; they make my heart swell with pride. Also, bonus, having lots of users means people want to pay me for services or hire me or let me give talks.
But it’s not like I’m trying to keep others out of this game, because there is just so much that I wish we could build and not enough time! Come on! Let’s build the future together!"
I wonder what the academic version of this paragraph looks like. Here's my attempt...
"I’m going to try to build a totally great new thing. It’s going to be a lot of work, but it will be worth it because it’s going to be so useful and cool. Gosh, it would be awful if other people came and stole my idea, so this is going to be a lonely pursuit and having others work with me will only happen if I really trust them; I already know I’m not chasing after a windmill.
If somebody wants to work on it with me, I’m going to figure out if I can trust them, then work out the arrangements of our secure, long-term commitment, then give them what they need to work on it. And we have to keep this secret - if somebody tells me they used it and found six problems in it, that might keep us from getting published. Users are awesome, but only when we're ready for them; when they do things we expect, they make our CVs swell with papers. Also, bonus, having lots of papers means people want to give me tenure or let me give talks.
But it's not like I'm trying to keep others out of this game, I'm just making sure they do it properly and in a way that doesn't hurt me, because there's so much to do and not enough time to deal with crap if it comes up! Come on! Let’s build the future together!"