Answer: much of the open source community still prefers the command line, and good GUI ideas are often sneered at. The best the open source community usually manages is a pale imitation of another product's interface (but with more clutter and inconsistency).

Unfortunately collaboration between coders tends not to produce products aimed at non-coders which involve an element of creativity and consideration of aesthetics, usability, etc., and there's an unwillingness to cooperate with those with skills in those areas. I don't think there's even much recognition of the problem.

Posted by: Matt Round on November 16, 2002 03:59 AM

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"The best the open source community usually manages is a pale imitation of another product's interface (but with more clutter and inconsistency)."

HERE HERE!

Programmers, by trade, *must* LOVE complexity. In order to be good programmers, they must:
- adapt to an ever-changing profession.
- manage extremely complicated, non-physical (and barely tangible) entities (software)
- learn to find bugs that are usually created by vaguely-associated logical dependencies.

These open-source programmers are the most fanatical of the bunch. Most volunteer their time because of the raw pleasure the work brings them.

How can a person so intrigued by complexity create a product with the sole purpose of SIMPLICITY?

Programmers & Simple Products just don't *naturally* go hand in hand.

Don't jump at me! NATURALLY is the key word here!

In my opinion, it is very unreasonable to think that a person with such a tremendous ability to manage complexity can leave their perspective behind, and design their product so that its operation is SIMPLE from the perspective of just a normal person.

Posted by: Anthropocentric on November 16, 2002 05:23 AM

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Open source programmers do what they like, to solve their problems. Paid programmers do what someone else likes, to solve other people's problems.

Posted by: mcw on November 22, 2002 06:52 AM

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