Comment Principle versus Software (Score 1) 476
What I am about to point out may sound obvious, but I think it's important to straighten it out. There is a difference between Open Source as principle and Open Source Software as it appears today. What many people regard as a general lack of user-friendly interfaces among Open Source Software, has nothing to do with its source being open. It's not like the ingenious user interface you've just designed will break apart as soon as you decide to open the source.
The author talks about "the Open Source model" not having any mechanisms for user feedback. Although strictly true, there is nothing that says that open source and user feedback can't be used together. "The Open Source model" implies the source is open, and that's pretty much that. The model does not exclude the possibility to supplement the "development model" with some kind of ingenious user feedback mechanism. The fact that this mixture is still rare, is not a result of a conflict with the openness of Open Source Software. It probably has to do with Open Source still being a pretty young and unexplored phenomenon, at least to the wider public.
I know the article doesn't strictly contradict what I've just written, but I think it's important to underline my point to the people who just read the first paragraph of the article and then concluded that Open Source will result in bad UIs. Okay, those people probably don't read this anyway, so for the rest of you; go tell them! :-)
KAR
The author talks about "the Open Source model" not having any mechanisms for user feedback. Although strictly true, there is nothing that says that open source and user feedback can't be used together. "The Open Source model" implies the source is open, and that's pretty much that. The model does not exclude the possibility to supplement the "development model" with some kind of ingenious user feedback mechanism. The fact that this mixture is still rare, is not a result of a conflict with the openness of Open Source Software. It probably has to do with Open Source still being a pretty young and unexplored phenomenon, at least to the wider public.
I know the article doesn't strictly contradict what I've just written, but I think it's important to underline my point to the people who just read the first paragraph of the article and then concluded that Open Source will result in bad UIs. Okay, those people probably don't read this anyway, so for the rest of you; go tell them!
KAR
