Thoughts About On-line Help by Dan Emory Shovelware is becoming the norm in computer software documentation. That roar you hear in the distance is the Open Source bandwagon coming your way. Add BSD, the Apache web server, and most of the tools that run the Internet, and Open Source looks as if it could be part of many writers' futures. The implications, however, overturn the conventional high-tech business model. When software is no longer intellectual property, everything changes.
Development is quicker because more people are involved.
Bugs are caught more quickly. Instead of being passive consumers, customers can become partners in development. Instead of selling software, companies sell hardware, services, or added value. Internally, companies become more interactive and more loosely structured. If Open Source continues to gather speed, high-tech workers will discover that it is not just a development model, but also a new model for corporate life.