It's a new day, it's a new dawn, it's a new world.

What happens when you try to develop a piece of software in public?

Well, stage one pretty much has to be where no-one knows exactly what you're doing except for some generously vague hand-waving. "We're writing some software. It's going to be grand!" That's because you have little idea, if you're honest, how you're going to get there.

Oh, you've got the general idea, some sample code, and a backpack full of hopes... but as any hiker will tell you, the mountain has it's own plans.

This time, however, let's see what happens when the climb is blogged.

Software has a life cycle. It's born from ideas, grows with work, lives through use, and dies from neglect.  The process can take years, decades, sometimes forever. Or it can be quick. I've seen both, many times.