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On Sun, 22 Apr 2001 09:25:15 Tim Churches wrote:
...
>Hence, it doesn't matter that OSCAR is implemented in an obsolete (or at
>least, legacy), proprietary software environment (AREV running under
>MS-DOS or clones). What matters is distilling the wisdom embodied in
>OSCAR and the lessons learnt in its real-life implementations so that
>other systems and implementations can benefit.
Hi Tim,
Although I have to agree with you at some level, I doubt very much that the $1
million in OSCAR funding is intended to facilitate its autopsy :-). Joseph Dal Molin
alluded to this in one of his more deeply philosophical messages
(http://www.mail-archive.com/[email protected]/msg03802.html). I
still hold out the hope that as a community, we can contribute more to each other's
efforts than planning to benefit from autopsies :-(.
>Perhaps "open source" is a (slight) misnomer?
>What matters most is "open
>design" or even "open wisdom".
Designs and wisdom are already quite open without open source. Open source, in my
view, is more like "full disclosure" plus inducement to build upon existing work.
>Access to source code just makes the
>dissection required to determine the design or extract the wisdom
>easier.
I don't think this is necessarily true. For example, even without access to Microsoft
source code, I will probably learn more from Microsoft's Office products than I will
learn from OSCAR. Simply put, running/using a software is the first step in
understanding the design and wisdom. Unless OSCAR is ported to an open source base, I
doubt that most people will ever pay $200 just to try it.
Furthermore, since OSCAR is a funded project, there may be less incentive to recruit
external open source developers. Not that I have been overwhelmingly successful with
this, but in contrast, I have an additional motivation to promote the OIO project on
this mailing list. :-)
>Of course, the other nice thing about open source software is
>that after the dissection, it is sometimes possible to play at being Dr
>Frankenstein...(although I suspect that this happens less often in
>reality than some open source evangelists would have us believe).
This is going to be a brand new and uncharted territory for all of us. Perhaps the
OSCAR project has already planned their development roadmap and processes in their
grant proposal. I know I have in my OIO-extension grant proposal. I think it is a good
idea to make the proposal publicly accessible at some point. Funded proposals are
definitely worth posting since it informs the community what lies ahead. Open source
projects are presumably community efforts. Of course, the definition of community may
vary from project to project.
Best regards,
Andrew
---
Andrew P. Ho, M.D.
OIO: Open Infrastructure for Outcomes
www.TxOutcome.Org
Assistant Clinical Professor
Department of Psychiatry, Harbor-UCLA Medical Center
University of California, Los Angeles
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