You assume that we want people to move to FOSS. I for one don't care if everyone and their dog uses the same software I do or not. What I care about is having software that works for what I need.
The WORST thing that's happened to FOSS in recent years is the deranged group of people that are trying to make it into a weird Windows/MacOS hybrid clone rather than building on long standing, and very functional, design traditions that make FOSS programs great.
KDE and Gnome are prime examples of this. Rather than improve on the desktop experience they dump down the interfaces and try to look like Windows and OS X. Great, so it's now easier for newbies to work but harder for everyone that actually uses these systems day after day.
OpenOffice is a horrible mess because it tries to be Microsoft Office and does such a good job that it even copies the general complexity of the MS Office UI and the trend towards being slow, bloated, and buggy.
Whereas programs that do succeed tend to be built on the traditions from Unix and FOSS. Firefox would be an example here. It's a lightweight program broken down into sepperate bits that are strung together. It's small, easy to use, and extremely flexible - all reasons it's been such a hit. Compare that to the Mozilla Suite that, while trying to be closer to the Unix way than most Windows software, still was more of a Windows-style app that was bigger, more bloated, and less flexible.
Developers need to have the nerve to ignore the user. Create something really good that does what you need. It may take longer for your program to become widely adopted but when it does it'll be a solid program people admire and keep using. Let extra features be added by the community that forms around your program but make every effort to keep those extras as just that - extras. Use extensions, plugins, or some similar method to allow these optionals to be installed rather than forcing them on all your users.
The end-user doesn't know what they want or need. All they can do is complain. Listen to their complaints and look for real issues that need fixed but stick to your guns and just write damn good software.
Be different when there is a good reason to be different. Follow the norm otherwise. Make something as easy to use as is possible but no easier. I don't know how many painful hours I've spent trying to work around the stupid 'easy' interfaces programs have been given just to do something that would have taken minutes with a 'harder' interface.
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Posted by: MikeFM on April 14, 2006 06:45 PMThe WORST thing that's happened to FOSS in recent years is the deranged group of people that are trying to make it into a weird Windows/MacOS hybrid clone rather than building on long standing, and very functional, design traditions that make FOSS programs great.
KDE and Gnome are prime examples of this. Rather than improve on the desktop experience they dump down the interfaces and try to look like Windows and OS X. Great, so it's now easier for newbies to work but harder for everyone that actually uses these systems day after day.
OpenOffice is a horrible mess because it tries to be Microsoft Office and does such a good job that it even copies the general complexity of the MS Office UI and the trend towards being slow, bloated, and buggy.
Whereas programs that do succeed tend to be built on the traditions from Unix and FOSS. Firefox would be an example here. It's a lightweight program broken down into sepperate bits that are strung together. It's small, easy to use, and extremely flexible - all reasons it's been such a hit. Compare that to the Mozilla Suite that, while trying to be closer to the Unix way than most Windows software, still was more of a Windows-style app that was bigger, more bloated, and less flexible.
Developers need to have the nerve to ignore the user. Create something really good that does what you need. It may take longer for your program to become widely adopted but when it does it'll be a solid program people admire and keep using. Let extra features be added by the community that forms around your program but make every effort to keep those extras as just that - extras. Use extensions, plugins, or some similar method to allow these optionals to be installed rather than forcing them on all your users.
The end-user doesn't know what they want or need. All they can do is complain. Listen to their complaints and look for real issues that need fixed but stick to your guns and just write damn good software.
Be different when there is a good reason to be different. Follow the norm otherwise. Make something as easy to use as is possible but no easier. I don't know how many painful hours I've spent trying to work around the stupid 'easy' interfaces programs have been given just to do something that would have taken minutes with a 'harder' interface.
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