Disclaimer:  I am a barely-computer-literate baby boomer, so the "open-source" reference might not be technically correct.  I worked with a bunch of young computer scientists several years ago and they introduced me to the concept, and I think there are parallels with today's political scene.  

I'm in the process of reading Mavericks at Work (fascinating read, btw) by William C. Taylor and Polly LaBarre and came across the following quotes by Eric Raymond:

Make the jump with me...............