How are open source projects managed [closed]

Question

I am working in a small team on some projects in my spare time. We are having the problem that we seem to go in circles and are not able to get our products developed - however this is not a problem during my day job. The lack of face-to-face communication seems to have a real impact on productivity.

Any examples of software or methodologies in use by the open source development community would be appreciated.

Answer 1

If you read the history of most open source projects, they start with one person doing a lot of the initial work. If there's a team, it's small, and one person actually leads the team.

To pick one example. In the Python community, they refer to Guido van Rossum as the Benevolent Dictator for Life (BDFL). His word is (more-or-less) final. In many cases there are folks don't agree with him -- but for the sake of the Python community -- they seem to acquiesce to his judgment.

I think every open source project has a (singular) lead programmer who assures that decisions get made, and made in a consistent way.

Back in the olden days, Fred Brooks (The Mythical Man Month) described "chief programmer teams". Same concept. Someone is in charge of the technical content. Emphasis on the one. Nowadays we call the the "architect" or some such term.

Answer 2

No real methodology here, but I think 2 things are important:

1. Have well defined goals and responsibilities.
2. Let each developer have the last say in how their allocated part should be done.

In open source projects the only real and strongest motivation is the fun to be had coding the product. Relating to #2 above, if people are told what to do, and they don't agree with it, the motivation starts lacking. Of course there will always be a bit of give-and-take like in any other type of relationship.

Also about the face time, Skype is great for having face to face meetings, which I recommend at least once a week or month (depending on the size and momentum of the project)