The Movable Type Code Repository Goes Public
Six Apart has announced that they are making their code repository public. A code repository is a tool for coordinating the development of software by more then one developer in an organized fashion. By exposing their repository anyone can get the latest version of the software and monitor what changes or new features are being added.
On the surface this is of little use or consequence to the average user however its effect on the product going forward will be profound.
In the past, the direction and development of Movable Type has been kept secret for competitive reasons. Opening their code repository changes all of that unloading the burden of working in secret and enabling better and more frequent feedback to happen.
The news of the code repository going public comes as the latest version is mostly complete and going through fine-tuning and bug fixes that happens at the end of a development cycle. I think the true impact of opening the code repository won't become clear until the next version as we can see new features being introduced in near real time. It will be interesting to see how feedback will be handled by the company with level of transparency. While a bit challenging and at times difficult for MT's development team, this will undoubtedly help them forge close ties with its developer community and deliver a better product to its growing user base.
Entrepreneur and noted essayist Paul Graham wrote that startups worry far too much about people copying them.
He concludes worry most about how to make something people want. If you're building anything good enough to copy, you're way ahead.
UPDATE: See the description on this commit was just to make me happy and I appreciate the thought!
