I have been in several conversations in the last week (voice and email) where the concept of “working together” in software development came up, and several threads emerged:
- how the original developer doesn’t/shouldn’t have to do everything – others can contribute (to me, a key concept in open source)
- how interested/engaged users can be an important force in the direction in which a software application or tool goes forward
Dave Winer has written about this many times:
- The magic of working together
- Key concept of the open web: working together
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Working together means this: If someone else has a good-enough way to do something, rather than reinvent what they do, incorporate what they do into what you do.
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- Working together (SOTN 2018)
- Working together in 2019
I have tried to follow that second point in several ways:
- My blog uses WordPress, I did not develop my own blogging tool
- I use River5 as my RSS reader engine
- I use RiverBrowser to display my own rivers of news
- I document and evangelize how to create your own rivers of news
- I document how to use tools like River4 and 1999.io
- I help others set up these tools
I am getting ready to start working in the computer music area again after a long absence, and I am reviewing available tools to see if they fit the areas I am interested in. In that way, I am trying to practice the concepts of working together as I have outlined above.
Anyone want to work together with me? Let me know!