The Apache Way May Save Us All

The commercial software industry is plagued by numerous significant problems: Cost and schedule overruns, poor software quality, unrealistic expectations, products that fail to meet customer needs, and more. These problems are historic, chronic, and pervasive; they’ve been with us for decades, and changes to methodology haven’t had much effect in remedying them.

By contrast, the Apache Software Foundation has been around for over 20 years and the Apache Way - the framework of values and governance for Apache Software Foundation projects - has been the guiding force for dozens of highly successful software projects that are used in countless environments everywhere, run much of the Internet, and are probably used by every technical person in one way or another every day. In fact it would be hard to find any other software organization, open or proprietary, with a better track record.

What if the Apache Way were applied to all software projects? Could the Apache Way be the answer to solve these universal software engineering challenges, for everybody, once and for all?