The time has come — it’s been coming for a while — when FOSS must decide what it is. Who is it for?
Slashdot was quite rough on our 2.14 release. Cue the usual misinformed rants about each version of GNOME removing features. One poster writes “Supposedly many options will confuse the user. Come on. These users are using Linux.”
Should FOSS never be for more than geeks?
The matter of GIMP recently reared its ugly head on NewsForge recently. And there, someone writes in comment:
And these demands that the developers do x or y, what’s that nonsense about, this is free open source software, you didn’t pay for it, you don’t write any documentation for it, but you want it the way you want it? Talk about childish. So yes, if you don’t like one of these projects, either don’t use it, or contribute to make it better. But please, this is not a commercial project, it’s made by volunteers. If photoshop has features you don’t like, and you paid hundreds of dollars for it, you have every right to complain and try to get adobe to fix it. But if someone gives you a present, which is what this kind of software is at its heart, why on earth do you think you have the right to question the quality of that present?
Well, I’m going to tell you that users have every right. We exist for them.
What is Linux? What is GNOME? If it’s just something we do for kicks, then sure, we can tell griping users to get lost. It’s our ball and we’re doing what we like with it.
But if we’re serious about providing an alternative to other operating systems, if we’re serious about providing choice and quality, then we have a duty, and we have to take it seriously.
Without users, we’re just a bunch of geeks indulging in mutual back-rubbbing. I am honoured to join the ranks of bloggers here at blogs.gnome.org, but take a second to look at the faces. What do you see? Pretty much nothing but 20-something geeks.
We have to look beyond our circle, and beyond our mindset. The command line is a burden on the memory and the fingers. Emacs and vi are bizarre and arcane forms of self-torture. Primary paste wastes more time (with mis-selection and mis-clicks of that mouse wheel) than it saves. GIMP was designed by monkeys on crack. Enough. Time to let go and move on.
When users tell us such a feature is too complex, or crazy, or the interface sucks, we have to take heed. When users clamour for something to be fixed, we have to listen and prioritize accordingly. If you still think you’re hacking for fun, you’re in the wrong place.
I think it’s time for us to grow up. Some kicking and screaming may be involved, and some egos bruised. Let’s get to work.