[WEB4LIB] Re: Two steps forward, three steps back

[Karen Coyle]

On Fri, 2004-12-31 at 04:51, Peter Murray wrote:

> I wonder if the open source movement is closer to "ideal" of informed 
> decisions being made by those closer to the userbase. I'm not familiar 
> with the various projects -- does someone have an opinion?

My experience with open source is that the only user base they are close
to is themselves. Open source programs seem designed for open source
developers. There are some exceptions, but it is telling when the
program is only available as source code and you are expected to compile
it yourself to get a working executable version. That's why I am always
glad when a good open source product gets picked up by a company with a
track record of creating human-friendly software. You need to product
testers and de-buggers and documentation writers as part of the team.

kc

> 
> 
> Peter
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Karen Coyle
Digital Library Specialist
http://www.kcoyle.net
Ph: 510-540-7596 Fax: 510-848-3913
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