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Cathedral vs Bazaar
Product / Dualities
Two models for building software: the closed cathedral or the open bazaar.
The Two Sides
| Cathedral | Bazaar |
|---|
| Small, curated team | Many contributors |
| Controlled releases | Release early, release often |
| Top-down design | Emergent design |
| Tight quality gates | Many eyes find bugs |
Eric Raymond's essay contrasted closed commercial software with open-source projects like Linux. The insight: the messy, public bazaar often ships better software than the disciplined cathedral.
Why It's a Duality
- Cathedrals produce coherence and polish.
- Bazaars produce resilience and scale.
- Most products need both modes at different moments.
How to Navigate
- Shape the core vision cathedral-style; open the edges bazaar-style.
- Use cathedral mode when coherence matters (brand, data model, security).
- Use bazaar mode for extensions, content, and community features.
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