Anyone whose read a few posts on this blog should know that I'm a big believer in open source; it's better for innovation, and when executed properly, it will be more profitable than proprietary code.

On that note, here's an interesting post highlighting the similarities between open source development and terrorist networks. Decentralized, lack of hierarchy, and extremely rapid innovation and fast movement characterize both. Here's a key quote that summarizes things nicely:

The insurgency uses an open-source community approach (similar to the decentralized development process now prevalent in the software industry) to warfare that is extremely quick and innovative. New technologies and tactics move rapidly from one end of the insurgency to the other, aided by Iraq's relatively advanced communications and transportation grid - demonstrated by the rapid increases in the sophistication of the insurgents' homemade bombs. This implies that the insurgency's innovation cycles are faster than the American military's slower bureaucratic processes (for example: its inability to deliver sufficient body and vehicle armor to our troops in Iraq).

An ugly example, but it illustrates the power of open source methodologies, which no doubt will be the wave of the future in crime and business.

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