[Axiom-developer] Re: Fricas

[Bill Page]

On 7/26/07, address@hidden <address@hidden> wrote:
> Bill Page wrote:
> > A fork is a failure to communicate.
>
> A fork is a separate project.
>
> http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fork_(software_development)

Wherein we may read (in part):

---

Forks are considered an expression of the freedom made available by
free software, but a weakness since they duplicate development efforts
and can confuse users over which forked package to use. Developers
have the option to collaborate and pool resources with free software,
but it is not ensured by free software licenses, only by a commitment
to cooperation. That said, many developers will make the effort to put
changes into all relevant forks, e.g. amongst the BSDs.

The Cathedral and the Bazaar stated in 1997 [2] that "The most
important characteristic of a fork is that it spawns competing
projects that cannot later exchange code, splitting the potential
developer community." However, this is not common present usage.

In some cases, a fork can merge back into the original project or
replace it. The Experimental/Enhanced GNU Compiler System was a fork
from GCC which proved more vital than the original project and was
eventually "blessed" as the official GCC project. Some have attempted
to invoke this effect deliberately, e.g. Mozilla Firefox was an
unofficial project within Mozilla that soon replaced the Mozilla Suite
as the focus of development.

----

> A failure to communicate is what you and I have.

Then why do we agree that the article that you mention above is a good one?

Maybe what we need is more of this: "commitment to cooperation" thing ...

BTW, I specifically referenced this same article in the edits that you
asked me to remove.

Regards,
Bill Page.