> The author provides as counterexamples MacOS and Windows, but that's a silly comparison. Apple nor Microsoft never coordinated with anybody else on their APIs.
No, but each of those two systems is ruled by one dictator and has one blessed way to do things. For example in the Windows / .NET world, it's WinForms, er I mean WPF, er I mean...
> Also, I'm not sure what kind of standard this author is pining for.
It sounds like a wish for the clarity of a cathedral rather than the chaos of a bazaar.
It's a silly comparison because the author implies that OSS is a monolith that's failing to coordinate amongst its parts, whereas proprietary software firms are individuals that excel at self-coordination but are never expected to coordinate amongst each other.
Individual OSS projects are often good at self-coordination. You don't need standards if you just reinvent the wheel yourself AKA how proprietary software often works.
No, but each of those two systems is ruled by one dictator and has one blessed way to do things. For example in the Windows / .NET world, it's WinForms, er I mean WPF, er I mean...
> Also, I'm not sure what kind of standard this author is pining for.
It sounds like a wish for the clarity of a cathedral rather than the chaos of a bazaar.