As already referenced by Bjorn and Ward, this article by John Mark Walters makes for some very interesting reading. I highly recommend it, and I am already looking forward to reading the next one in his series.
The article has some interesting implications for Eclipse. I would venture to say that Eclipse stands out as an example of an open source community that has been very successful without being overtly religious or ideological about its motives. If anything, the mantra within the Eclipse community seems to be a pragmatic desire to help developers successfully adopt its technology. As such, John Mark’s article provides an interesting and plausible explanation for Eclipse’s success.
