It's very well-stated and largely appropriate for most open-source projects, including ours. (There are points I disagree with; most Mozilla.[org|com] projects do think a lot about making software for end-users, and then there's the whole class of corporate-sponsored OSS projects, like OOo and the Netscape-era Mozilla, where making a project open-source is about improving the bottom line rather than scratching an itch, but, again, what he writes is clearly true for the vast majority of open-source projects.)
Smokey _________________ "[...] whether the duck drinks hot chocolate or coffee is irrelevant." -- ovvldc and sardisson in the NeoWiki
Joined: May 25, 2003 Posts: 4752 Location: Santa Barbara, CA
Posted: Mon Apr 23, 2007 8:06 pm Post subject:
jakeOSX wrote:
hmm. post is locked. while i agree with what he said, he shouldn't have locked it on one post. i mean even ed feeds the trolls sometimes =D
-j, who demands ipod video conversion features implemented in neooffice because i have a forum login
Yeah troll feeding is kind of like feeding your pet python...you never quite know if it'll eat you instead
There are definitely some good points in there and it definitely resounds with some of the frustration that I have had as an open source developer (and I've probably ranted about here as well). I think we're kind of halfway between the type of project that he's describing and more of a Firefox. Patrick and I are really not developer-centric. Our goal isn't to create a happy community of diverse developers, but rather a good solid product. At the same time, speaking for myself, I do tend to be driven by what I find enjoyable from a development perspective...
well, he should have expected it and let them post and discuss, rather than just shut it down. locking a thread is the equivalent of picking up your gi joes and saying "i'm going home!"
i see the problem as being that 'open-source' is becoming more mainstream (Thanks to mozilla and oo.o mainly). and for the first time a lot of people are able to actually talk, not to some corporate lacky on the phone, but the actual programmers.
there will always be outlandish requests. the only difference is that in these situations the user can say them in a place that the programmer can hear them.
(I WANT NEO TO RUN ON MY WATCH DAMMIT!)
and my advice to opensource programmers is this: read them, take them, leave them, but don't get frustrated by them. someone makes a post demanding the sun.
(I WANT NEO TO HAVE THE SUN!)
or the moon
(MOON TOO!)
don't waste the effort of even replying. unless you are pulling a patrick and saying something like:
it is about users, supporters, developers, haters, trolls, ninjas and pirates all living together. we work together to make neooffice, openoffice.org, or what ever it is you support, the best it can be.
it does sadden me that Apple itself has now shunned that community. perhaps darwin will once again be opened up fully, but the damage is done. they know the "open source" part of OSX was just a pony show.
You cannot post new topics in this forum You cannot reply to topics in this forum You cannot edit your posts in this forum You cannot delete your posts in this forum You cannot vote in polls in this forum You cannot attach files in this forum You cannot download files in this forum
