I think the complexity differences make the bigger differentiator.
Making updates to a protocol is slow because it requires consensus between its users. There's no agile quick iterations on a standard that requires updating 1000s of code bases for each iteration. On the other hand, if apple wants to make a breaking change to it's payments app, it can while only needing to make those changes in one place.
Sure, the incentives are misaligned, but the costs are even more misaligned
This invites the question: what is the relationship between "technical debt" and the tragedy of the commons?[1]
Open Source doesn't exist in a pure Commons mode at the enterprise; there is usually a mix of open/proprietary code at stake.
The various methodologies (agile/waterfall/&c) seem to dance around a fundamental problem: people don't scale, prioritize, estimate, or react to inputs in any consistent way.
(Agile likes to assume an elite ninja cadre and enlightened customers--great, when one finds them.)
Nor does there seem to be an "answer" pending, except for with the marketing crew.
Making updates to a protocol is slow because it requires consensus between its users. There's no agile quick iterations on a standard that requires updating 1000s of code bases for each iteration. On the other hand, if apple wants to make a breaking change to it's payments app, it can while only needing to make those changes in one place.
Sure, the incentives are misaligned, but the costs are even more misaligned