So I'm watching The Antiques Roadshow one Sunday, while stuffing my face with delicious chicken, and there's a bit on Thomas Chippendale. Bear with me.
Basically, according to the old-stuff boffins at the afore mentioned Roadshow, he's only really famous because of one thing.
He released a book of drawings of his furniture.
Apparently, that's it. Don't get me wrong, he was a choice chippy, but the thing that made him the legend that he is, is his book.
Could this be the first example of successful Open Source in a modern(ish) commercial market? At the time his peers though he was utterly mental for releasing publicly, to anyone who cared to pick up his book, what would normally be considered trade secrets.
Sounds pretty familiar...