[Web4lib] What Sort of Library is Open Source Software For?

[K.G. Schneider]

> And the geeks may be optional, but they will sure help things run more
> smoothly and ideally... that goes for commercial products equally to
> open source.
> 
> -Ross.

I'd say geeks are never optional... and also, from another post, I second
John F's points from first-hand experience... but (and I wade in with this
point very delicately so it is not misunderstood) another checkpoint for
evaluating open source software is how well its end product serves its user
communities, not just its developer communities. I was alluding to that
earlier in comments about administrative management modules for search
engines. John's comment about formal training availability for open source
products touches on that issue, but it's a wider checkpoint than that. It's
not insurmountable, but it's quite real. 

Karen G. Schneider
kgs at bluehighways.com