In 1971 Harlan Mills put forward an evocative image in response to this question. It was obvious to him that a large software project must be broken up so separate teams can manage discrete pieces. The key

to Mills’s argument was that each team should be organized as a surgi- cal team, not a hog-butchering team. In other words, “instead of each

team member cutting away on the problem, one does the cutting and the others give him every support that will enhance his effectiveness and productivity.”9
Frederick Brooks took this argument a step further with an analogy to the building of medieval cathedrals. But Brooks meant a particular
What Is Open Source and How Does It Work? • 59

kind of medieval cathedral. He was talking about Reims, not