The Network Really is the

The Network Really is the Computer The usual excellence from Tim O'Reilly.

I'd like to argue that open source is the "natural language" of a
networked community, that the growth of the Internet and the growth
of open source are interconnected by more than happenstance. As
individuals found ways to communicate through highly leveraged
network channels, they were able to share information at a new pace
and a new level. Just as the spread of literacy in the late middle
ages disenfranchised old power structures and led to the flowering
of the renaissance, it's been the ability of individuals to share
knowledge outside the normal channels that has led to our current
explosion of innovation. Just as ease of travel helped new ideas to
spread, wide area networking has allowed ideas to spread and take
root in new ways. Open source is ultimately about communication.

Without a community, open source is nothing.