The genetics of open source code

• Open source code goes through many generations very rapidly.

• In genetic terms this provides many opportunities for crossover (although the mutation rate is also high).

• Crossovers lead to unexplored (but promising) regions of parameter space.

• Exploring new fields in science is good for scientific discovery.

• Personal experience shows us that donations to our code often come from researchers in entirely different fields.

• Common code that satisfies many different communities makes novel collaborations possible!