5 ms·

I don't really see how the comparison to commercial software is useful. Of course there are different pressures when deciding on the feature sets of Photoshop v

by alex_h 17y ago

I don't really see how the comparison to commercial software is useful. Of course there are different pressures when deciding on the feature sets of Photoshop vs Django. Would Adobe make more money, for example, if they gave all their developers veto power over their products' features?

mncaudill 17y ago
Jacob didn't bring money into the equation. His point was that the quality of open-source software tends to go up, while major closed-source projects' declines. Profit margin and quality don't always correlate, especially in software.
- ams6110 17y ago
  You are right that some crappy software is highly profitable, but to say that Microsoft's software products have gotten worse with each release is to have a very non-standard definition of "worse". You still might not like Windows or Office, but on the basis of stability and usability, two attributes that most people would correlate with quality, there is really no question that relative quality improved from one release to the next.
  - selven 17y ago
    That's a lot more debatable than you think. Vista was crashing all over the place back before they added some patches and service packs, and from a usability standpoint many people despise the new ribbon interface.
    - JBiserkov 17y ago
      Vista was crashing because Microsoft finally changed the video driver model and nVidia, Intel & ATI couldn't keep up. The ribbon was yet another dramatic change that was long overdue. Everybody loves it once they 'get it'.
    - jodrellblank 17y ago
      Yet Microsoft have an awful lot of research suggesting the ribbon is an improvement, which you can read about from their blogs. You could also try it and give them feedback. I refer you to http://blogs.msdn.com/jensenh/archive/2005/09/14/467126.aspx http://blogs.msdn.com/jensenh/archive/2005/09/14/467126.aspx and the rest of detailed and interesting posts in his blog about the Ribbon design process. Anyway, the parent post claims windows has got better and you say "no, it was bad now it's been improved" - that's not debatable that's you agreeing.
  - mncaudill 17y ago
    I didn't offer my opinion one way or the other. I was summarizing Jacob's point for the person I replied to that subtly missed it.
GrandMasterBirt 17y ago
A perfect point: Django is about you making a web framework that makes your/other's life easier. Also doing good stuff, being in control, getting recognition, and what better resume than "I am the lead developer on the Django project"? In the corporate world its more about making money, not getting fired, people thinking up better ways to make money with what you already have, using your talent to make money, in fact the only reason to create anything in the corporate world is either to better make money or to save money on something that currently costs more money than building + using would cost. Granted there are exceptions, like 37signals, but they got maaaaaaaaajor recognition for ruby on rails, and that is in itself making them money, or getting them tallent (which helps them make money).

by alex_h 17y ago

mncaudill 17y ago

Jacob didn't bring money into the equation. His point was that the quality of open-source software tends to go up, while major closed-source projects' declines. Profit margin and quality don't always correlate, especially in software.

ams6110 17y ago
You are right that some crappy software is highly profitable, but to say that Microsoft's software products have gotten worse with each release is to have a very non-standard definition of "worse". You still might not like Windows or Office, but on the basis of stability and usability, two attributes that most people would correlate with quality, there is really no question that relative quality improved from one release to the next.
- selven 17y ago
  That's a lot more debatable than you think. Vista was crashing all over the place back before they added some patches and service packs, and from a usability standpoint many people despise the new ribbon interface.
  - JBiserkov 17y ago
    Vista was crashing because Microsoft finally changed the video driver model and nVidia, Intel & ATI couldn't keep up. The ribbon was yet another dramatic change that was long overdue. Everybody loves it once they 'get it'.
  - jodrellblank 17y ago
    Yet Microsoft have an awful lot of research suggesting the ribbon is an improvement, which you can read about from their blogs. You could also try it and give them feedback. I refer you to http://blogs.msdn.com/jensenh/archive/2005/09/14/467126.aspx http://blogs.msdn.com/jensenh/archive/2005/09/14/467126.aspx and the rest of detailed and interesting posts in his blog about the Ribbon design process. Anyway, the parent post claims windows has got better and you say "no, it was bad now it's been improved" - that's not debatable that's you agreeing.
- mncaudill 17y ago
  I didn't offer my opinion one way or the other. I was summarizing Jacob's point for the person I replied to that subtly missed it.

GrandMasterBirt 17y ago

A perfect point: Django is about you making a web framework that makes your/other's life easier. Also doing good stuff, being in control, getting recognition, and what better resume than "I am the lead developer on the Django project"? In the corporate world its more about making money, not getting fired, people thinking up better ways to make money with what you already have, using your talent to make money, in fact the only reason to create anything in the corporate world is either to better make money or to save money on something that currently costs more money than building + using would cost. Granted there are exceptions, like 37signals, but they got maaaaaaaaajor recognition for ruby on rails, and that is in itself making them money, or getting them tallent (which helps them make money).