Small programming teams increase reliability but also time between releases, with numerous updates and bug fixes in the interim. However, Brooks' Law doesn't hold in the open-source community, he said. With 40,000 coders working in tandem on Linux, the law would predict billions of bugs in the software. Yet Linux is remarkably stable, Raymond said, and it is often used for mission-critical servers. Raymond said open-source operates more like a bazaar, where everyone communicates and suggests solutions.
Bugs are shallow beasts because so many eyes are looking at the code.
Bugs can be difficult to locate, but once they're found, they are often easy to fix. Raymond also suggested that the immense peer review process in the Linux community is key to the software's stability. Traditional software development has no such skeptical outside peer review and pays for it with regular failures, Raymond said. Concerns about open source During the event, MacHack attendees expressed concerns about the logistics of managing feedback from unknown sources and whether it's possible to make money in an open-source environment. Raymond noted that open-source projects always have a core individual or review group that is responsible for the project and sanctions submissions.