El vie, 12-02-2016 a las 04:57 -0500, Martin Owens escribió:
On Thu, 2016-02-11 at 23:21 +0100, Tobias Ellinghaus wrote:
Basically, the primary reason to write free software should be the fun the programmers have.
I'm issuing my highest disagree. Not that many programmers don't have fun, or that many developers currently think that Free Software is only a bit of fun; but that we have users, they have needs, we're ghastly at serving those needs.
I'm glad you bring this subject, Martin. As a user, I couldn't agree more. I used to take the developers side every time stuff like this was discussed because, hey, they are using their free time to code something we can use for free, with no restrictions. But after some time being involved as a user and a occasional contributor I realized that the idea of contributing "just for fun", avoiding any responsability to users is generally harmful, not only for the projects but for the quality of the software produced too.
We users need to keep in mind that developers writing software are human beings and they must be treat them as such, without demanding stuff as if they were our slaves, but developers also have to realize that when they publish a program and encourage people to use it they have some responsabilities too.
Software has to work. And in the case of graphics software it has to deliver the quality, performance and functions needed by users. Specially if you have a website promoting the software as something that people can use for their work. Everytime the words "professional", "powerful", "flexible", "high quality" etc. are used in the marketing of a free application, there is a promise made to users.
It only takes a brief look at the major libre graphics programs websites to notice that all of them offer something that is supposed to work, that is supposed to be reliable and that is good for getting people's job done.
If the motivation of making free software isn't giving people effective tools for getting their job done, then developers should come out and say it, bring down all the marketing used to promote the software and attract users and come clean saying that they're just doing it for fun, and nobody should be too serious about using the software for work.
That would help us, users, to move on and use something else if we NEED to rely on the software to get our work done.
Note that I'm not against people doing things for fun and I'm perfectly fine if you say "I don't want it to become a job, I just want to have a good time". Nobody has the obligation of giving away their work. But if you promise something, and yes it is a promise when you promote your software and try to attract users, you already turned it into a job and it comes with a responsability. So, if you don't want that responsability, just don't promote the program as a capable tool. Maybe it's also a good idea to stop providing binaries too.
Now, I'm well aware that it's difficult to produce high quality software when the resources are limited so I'm not expecting magic here. I know that using free software from a project run by volunteers will require making some sacrifices and lowering the expectations a bit, and as a users who runs his design firm with free software exclusively I know I have. I'm grateful to developers who gave away they work and produced something I use everyday for my work. I think it's fair to also expect some gratitude and respect towards users too, as we are making some compromises, enduring and reporting bugs and trying to help the project.
Gez.