Date: Wed, 21 Apr 1999 10:51:32 -0500 (CDT) From: Licia <licia@o-o.org> To: "Jordan K. Hubbard" <jkh@zippy.cdrom.com> Cc: freebsd-chat@FreeBSD.ORG Subject: Re: application developers [ was Jordan the Confused (Was: Jordan The Evil!) ] Message-ID: <Pine.BSF.4.05.9904211039450.17750-100000@o-o.org> In-Reply-To: <13345.924677207@zippy.cdrom.com>
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On Tue, 20 Apr 1999, Jordan K. Hubbard wrote:
> > It's a frustrating situation, and I would go so far as to say that
> > the problem isn't even lack of support, but lack of feedback. App
> > developers will tend to go where their efforts are most appreciated
>
> I think what you need to understand here is that the equation simply
> cuts both ways. Users won't even bother using an application unless
> it solves a problem that's currently unsolved or solves it in a way
> which is obviously better than the other available methods. Coming to
> grips with a new application, or even evaluating it, takes time too
> and there are literally hundreds of thousands of applications out
> there now competing for user mindshare - just take a look at
> freshmeat.net sometime.
>
Oh I understand and actually agree, I just think this lack of feedback and
'moral support' is the reason so many app developers favor Linux. While I
personally feel FreeBSD has a 'higher quality user', Linux certainly has more
-vocal- users, and that includes doing things like reviewing apps they don't
actually want/need to use, giving opinions, suggestions, etc
> Even if you do manage to get a few users for an application, keep in
> mind the fact that it may only be a short-term thing until some other
> apps developer completely outclasses your offering and relegates it to
> the software scrap heap. :-) I've had this happen to any number of
> things I've written and contributed over the years, some of which took
> non-trivial amounts of time to develop too. Software is just like
> that, and if there's any truism to be uttered here at all it's that
> you really should develop applications first and foremost for yourself
> and treat users as an almost secondary concern (I'm assuming a non-
> commercial application here, of course). That does appear to be how
> almost all the really enduring software (emacs, perl, even Unix
> itself) got its start - some hacker decided to do it not for fame,
> glory or adulation so much as the simple fact that there was no tool
> for doing what they wanted available and it _pissed them off_. :-)
>
(grin) it's hard for me to be that way. I -want- to work on all my projects,
but would prefer to work on the ones that would benefit others the most (to be
honest, pretty much all my needs are filled at the moment except BBS software,
which I'm working on :) )
When I say feed back, I don't mean fame, glory, adulation, etc... I mean
people simply saying "Yes that might be useful, go ahead and write it", "No
that would probably be ignored, don't bother", or "you spelled the third word
of the second paragraph of the help screen wrong" :)
> I know of no better motivator, myself, and it's what led me to do the
> ports collection, for example. I was *tired* of having to remember
> how to build all the various bits of software I needed to make a new
> machine a comfortable work environment, so I decided to do something
> about it. It was never important to me, at least initially, that
> anyone else use it. :-)
>
> - Jordan
(smiles) Frustration can be a motivator, but for people like me, motivation
isn't really the issue. I'm plenty motivated, I just need to pick directions
to go in... if I have two applications I want to develop and I'm equally
interested in both, then feedback would help me pick which one to develop
first :)
For example, think how frustrating it would be if the core team commited a lot
of changes, but no one even acknowledged those changes... did they work, fail,
make no difference, etc? :)
(note : I'm not trying to sound a clarion call, rant, complain, blow off
steam, change the way the world works, etc. This is just my view
of why applications developers focus so much on Linux. The
resources they need are more available there)
[ licia@o-o.org ] [ http://www.o-o.org/~licia/ ] [ Alias : Ladywolf]
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