An anthropologist's view of an open source community (Opensource.com)

The word 'exotic' implies that the interesting thing about some group of people is the ways in which their culture is different or similar to ones own, and in particular the ways in which those differences and similarities allow one to feel titillated, smug, vindicated, etc. That might be a useful concept for imperialists, but it doesn't help anyone do good science. It's been a long time since anthropology has been driven by a fascination with the "exotic".

These days you'll find anthropologists studying pretty much any cultural group you can think of, from small bands of indigenous hunter-gatherers to american skateboarders to giant-city street vendors to wall street firms. Which is as it should be.