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> Open source programs basically have 0 usability studies because they don't have money for them For a lot of projects it's not even the goal to be usable for
by arp242 3y ago
> Open source programs basically have 0 usability studies because they don't have money for them
For a lot of projects it's not even the goal to be usable for random people: it's primarily something by the developers, for the developers. If it also happens to be useful for others: great. If not: that's okay too.
Of course other projects do have larger goals beyond just that.
GIMP developers have given kind of mixed signals over the years about what kind of project this is.
- The_Colonel 3y agoThis is an important point. People often say "you need to do X to get a large user base", which is basically "capitalist thinking" where the goal is maximizing profit (via large user base). But open source projects / devs don't have these incentives, they don't get rich out of a large user base. They often develop for fun, scratching their own itch, fulfilling some specific vision. Having user base is still important (testing, bug reports, ideas, PRs, validation/ego), but I think it's rarely the case that OSS's project's top priority is the largest user base possible. Sometimes you even get sort of gatekeeping devs preferring a smaller, more advanced (dev) user base, since a larger user base composed of basic users bring more headache (support) in comparison with the benefits (quality code contributions).
- blooalien 3y ago> "But open source projects / devs ... don't get rich out of a large user base." Nah. Usually all they often get from a large user base is the frustration of dealing with entitled users who don't understand the first thing about open source, and who sees the dev as nothing more than their personal "code monkey", there only to make the project an exact clone of some proprietary software that user is familiar with.