Here's a theoretical argument that seems unavoidable to me, though I haven't seen any evidence for it: many open source developers of a project consult in its a

Here's a theoretical argument that seems unavoidable to me, though I haven't seen any evidence for it: many open source developers of a project consult in its area. It makes sense that that project is hard to use. The great appeal of software, for me, is that it can encapsulate knowledge and expertise; a kind of abstraction layer. A magic talisman of wisdom and talent. This can include guiding the user in how to approach the task, implicitly providing concepts with which to reason about it. Like one of those old-fashioned how-to books, it can aim to be teacher, mentor, friend. The "problem" is that if you give it away, you can't make any money on consulting, because (ideally) it itself is the best possible consultant. So you have to charge for it. But it doesn't seem quite so noble...