Monday, February 28, 2011
The Open Source Solution
Many software developers think that open source software is the best way to quickly create usable code. While this may be a good idea in some specialized areas of the software world, it does not easily translate into other areas. Open source development materialized in the dawn of computing when all users were developers. Users were the intuitive choice for code contributers. However, much of today's software is used by the computer-savvy developer as well as the computer-illiterate grandmother. With most popular software, users are more likely to be of the non-developing persuasion. We wouldn't want our grandparents to get stuck checking their email because they've encountered a bug; or our children to be confused when an educational game doesn't act the way we want it to. Customers no longer are fellow developers. Without the fascination and devotion of the public, open source development is becoming obsolete.
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You make a good point about non-developer users. I would just add that most developer users, while they may have the skills, lack the interest to submit bug reports any differently than any other customer.
ReplyDeleteI agree that open-source software does cannot replace the proprietary software model. The real beneficiaries from open-source are developers. Open-source projects begin because it scratches the itch of some group of developers. That group, in turn, enhances it and makes it a very good product. Products intended for non-developers do not get nearly as much attention. This is why the highest quality open-source project out there are developer oriented (eclipse, linux, apache, etc.)
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