NET24 - Case Study - Typo3
by Diane Russell
Download Hard Copy Summary
Total of 17 page in web site and one download
<< Previous | page 2 of 2 |
The underlying philosophy of Typo3 I feel is the most important aspect of what has made Typo3 a truly successful community. This philosophy is ‘sharing on the non zero sum principle’. “…a gain by one player does not necessarily correspond with a loss by another.” (wikipedia1). The gains of members of the Typo3 community are not at the cost of other members. Members contribute in areas where they have an excess and in return take what they do not have. The programmers contribute modules because they have the expertise and the ‘Newbies’ question because they do not have the skills. This results in testing and documenting the modules. Both parties gain and the system gains a sum greater that the sum of its parts.
Is this philosophy of sharing centered around Kasper’s religious conviction. I do not think so because a similar system is in place in Oscommerce
http://www.oscommerce.org/
Here we see a similar system of sharing but in this example there is no single founder with a single vision. The Oscommerce community consists of over 62,000 store owners, developers, designers, and enthusiasts. Over 2,700 community made contributions helped to make the project succeed. This system is very commercially oriented but there is still a sense of free sharing and communication.
It is the philosophy of sharing that perpetuates the community. (See Warm Fuzzy Story to the left of this page)
|
