Open Source Software Development
While open source projects rarely have schedules, nonetheless they can reach a state in which they are called "late" by their sponsors, participants, and users. In such a case, Brooks's law ("adding manpower to a late software project makes it later") surely applies, for exactly the reasons that Brooks enumerates: time for the new developers to become productive and increased communication overhead. In addition, unless there are strict controls, newcomers may reduce the productivity of experienced developers by checking in buggy or inappropriate changes, which then have to be backed out.
Read more about this topic: Brooks's Law
Famous quotes containing the words open, source and/or development:
“It is an open question whether any behavior based on fear of eternal punishment can be regarded as ethical or should be regarded as merely cowardly.”
—Margaret Mead (1901–1978)
“There is no such source of error as the pursuit of absolute truth.”
—Samuel Butler (1835–1902)
“The highest form of development is to govern one’s self.”
—Zerelda G. Wallace (1817–1901)