Open Source Leadership Summit 2017

Developer communities are social entities and they behave in many ways according to what we know of Anthropology. There is a large body of research in that area that may be applicable to online communities of developers. Another classic area of knowledge is philosophy of science which investigates the underpinnings of knowledge as well as the processes that led us to advances in science. Developer communities are frequently in a mode of discovery that is also not unlike the classic scientific endeavors.

This talk tries to build the bridge between anthropology, philosophy of science and attempts to come to an understanding of how our developer communities function and why they are effective. This may lead to insights that help us improve how these communities work and avoid dysfunctional behavior that sometimes creeps in.