Spotlight: On Developers and Technology

On "Project Merge." The proposal, made by Martin Gallwey in the discuss forum two weeks ago, initiated one of the more vigorous debates OpenOffice.org has seen in months. Martin's simple proposal was to merge several related mailing lists into one. This way, members would be able to discuss similar topics in one list and not miss out on relevant discussions taking place in other lists. Discussion on the topic has been technically sophisticated and also important. For, an Open Source project lives in its mailing lists, and determining the right mix of size and constitution is a difficult art. The thread of the discussions is recommended reading for anyone interested in seeing how an Open Source project negotiates its own success.

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