The Cathedral and the Bazaar

Imagine you and your friends are building a big colorful tower with toy blocks. You all have different ideas on how the tower should look and how it should be built. But your friend, let's call her Jane, wants to be the boss and control everything about the tower. She tells everyone else what to do and doesn't listen to anyone else's suggestions.

Now, imagine another group of friends is building their own tower with toy blocks, but they work differently. They have no boss, and everyone gets to suggest ideas, vote on them, and help build the tower. They call their style of building the bazaar.

In the first group, with Jane as the boss, that's like building a cathedral. One person has all the power and makes all the decisions without considering what everyone else wants. In the second group, where everyone gets a say, that's like building a bazaar. It's open and inclusive, and everyone can contribute to make the tower look good.

In the world of computer programming, many people prefer the bazaar approach. You get more things done faster because everyone can work together, suggest ideas, and fix problems. It's like a big team where everyone has something to contribute. Plus, people are happier if they can have a say in what they help build.

The cathedral approach can work, but sometimes it can be slower and more frustrating because only one person has the power. In software development, it's often better to have more people involved and more ideas to choose from. That's why many programmers these days choose to use the bazaar approach.

So, in short, the Cathedral and the Bazaar are two ways of building things. One is like building a tower with a boss who makes all the decisions, and the other is like building a tower with a big group of friends who can all work together and contribute ideas.