3 ms·

The 90% + 90% is soooooo true. Everyone wants to do new shiny stuff, nobody wants to fix bugs so the product can be pushed out of the door.

jodrellblank 15y ago
Sounds like a Market for making bug fixing compelling and fun.
- ctdonath 15y ago
  That's the difference between FOSS and commercial software: the latter gives developers a reason to do what is otherwise uncompelling and unfun. Some things are just not fun. Some things are just not compelling. Some things are a big obnoxious hassle which nobody will enjoy doing and nobody will appreciate. Doing those things differentiate the professional from the amateur, and are why the professional gets paid.
  - billybob 15y ago
    I think this is a great point, and helps explain why much FOSS software is clunkier than its commercial counterpart. Although I don't think this is an issue of good, professional developers vs bad, amateur ones. Sometimes the same developer works on commercial and FOSS projects. It's just about the nature of work. Work is hard. That's why you have to be paid to do it. If you're doing a project for fun, you'll probably stop when it stops being fun. For many of us developers, the "first 90%" is fun and intrinsically motivating; the "last 90%" sucks and we do it because it's what we're paid to do.
- beza1e1 15y ago
  I like fixing bugs. I hate that you have to replicate them beforehand. That's usually digging out certain versions of the environment setup. The actually theory-validation-cycle of bug fixing is fun, because it is just like science.
  - malux85 15y ago
    I like fixing bugs too. The more difficult and obscure the better. I am often called in to fix a bug that nobody else can find, partly because I'm good at it, and partly because I enjoy it. My dream job is freelance bug hunter .. I'll track em down and squish em, when you cant, or dont want to :)
    - kenjackson 15y ago
      You should talk to John Robbins about that freelance profession. That's what he used to do and maybe still does. If you become really good at jumping into an unknown environment and fixing the hard bugs that no one else can fix, I suspect you can make a really healthy living.
- AlexandrB 15y ago
  Not to be snarky, but that's like saying "sounds like a market for making teeth-pulling compelling and fun". Some things are just hard and sometimes boring too. There's certainly a market for easing the pain, but I'm not sure you can make it fun.
  - petercooper 15y ago
    Some things, but not all things. Consider Farmville. Then consider this from the Simpsons in the 90s: http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3022/2461504842_de9b7ef09f.jpg http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3022/2461504842_de9b7ef09f.jp...

jodrellblank 15y ago

Sounds like a Market for making bug fixing compelling and fun.

ctdonath 15y ago
That's the difference between FOSS and commercial software: the latter gives developers a reason to do what is otherwise uncompelling and unfun. Some things are just not fun. Some things are just not compelling. Some things are a big obnoxious hassle which nobody will enjoy doing and nobody will appreciate. Doing those things differentiate the professional from the amateur, and are why the professional gets paid.
- billybob 15y ago
  I think this is a great point, and helps explain why much FOSS software is clunkier than its commercial counterpart. Although I don't think this is an issue of good, professional developers vs bad, amateur ones. Sometimes the same developer works on commercial and FOSS projects. It's just about the nature of work. Work is hard. That's why you have to be paid to do it. If you're doing a project for fun, you'll probably stop when it stops being fun. For many of us developers, the "first 90%" is fun and intrinsically motivating; the "last 90%" sucks and we do it because it's what we're paid to do.
beza1e1 15y ago
I like fixing bugs. I hate that you have to replicate them beforehand. That's usually digging out certain versions of the environment setup. The actually theory-validation-cycle of bug fixing is fun, because it is just like science.
- malux85 15y ago
  I like fixing bugs too. The more difficult and obscure the better. I am often called in to fix a bug that nobody else can find, partly because I'm good at it, and partly because I enjoy it. My dream job is freelance bug hunter .. I'll track em down and squish em, when you cant, or dont want to :)
  - kenjackson 15y ago
    You should talk to John Robbins about that freelance profession. That's what he used to do and maybe still does. If you become really good at jumping into an unknown environment and fixing the hard bugs that no one else can fix, I suspect you can make a really healthy living.
AlexandrB 15y ago
Not to be snarky, but that's like saying "sounds like a market for making teeth-pulling compelling and fun". Some things are just hard and sometimes boring too. There's certainly a market for easing the pain, but I'm not sure you can make it fun.
- petercooper 15y ago
  Some things, but not all things. Consider Farmville. Then consider this from the Simpsons in the 90s: http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3022/2461504842_de9b7ef09f.jpg http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3022/2461504842_de9b7ef09f.jp...