Open-Source Guru: AI Ends Closed-Source Software

[u/Unhappy-Sprinkles143]

https://www.heise.de/en/news/Open-Source-Guru-Raymond-AI-Ends-Closed-Source-Software-11480690.html

[u/RoomyRoots]

And puts out hundreds of shitty copies who will have to fight for people attention and a maintainer to care enough to learn to identify fixes that break shit. AI did more damage to the FOSS maintenance than the lack of funds.

[u/Wheatleytron → u/RoomyRoots]

And the best one will still rise to the top and become the de facto standard. Same as it ever was.

[u/StPatsLCA → u/Wheatleytron]

ngl the game so far appears to be copy closed source product, hype it, and totally ignore any existing FOSS products that need help

[u/turudd → u/StPatsLCA]

Have you tried to contribute to some of the bigger FOSS stuff… it’s often an exercise in futility

[u/Substantial_Swan_144 → u/[deleted]]

Engineers or not, programmers in OSS projects expect any who contribute to abide to their language and standards. The average person does not speak that language, so even if they have some sort of contribution, they are ignored and often ridiculed ("RFTM"). So people who could somehow contribute are simply discarded. It's an environment of pseudo-freedom.

[u/PixelatedGiant → u/[deleted]]

And a good project manager knows how to make people feel better about being told no. Most engineers don't. Especially when we are dealing with hundreds of PRs from anyone who figured out how to launch cursor.

I think open source is fundamentally different than your average enterprise software. People are a whole lot meaner and demanding when speaking through the veil of anonymity. Don't look at your average project manager working in the enterprise and assume they would be doing a better job than Linus Torvalds or any other FOSS developer. They would not be able to maintain any civility were they subjected to the same environment.

The issue with FOSS is that it's being done in public over the internet and communication is going to be rough. Everyone looks at these crash outs that they have and say "I would never say that in their shoes". But it keeps happening. There is a reason behind it and it's not just the developer's personality. The environment can easily become stressful and toxic.

[u/Substantial_Swan_144 → u/[deleted]]

You talk as if the only people who knew how projects should work were engineers. Engineers know how to code, but they don't know how their users think, and how to make applications accessible for them.

Case in point: artists. Usually, many open source programs lack features artists will need (like proper color management), and engineers simply don't consider them important because they cannot see the same priorities as their users.

[u/Substantial_Swan_144 → u/[deleted]]

I see.

[u/MrKapla → u/Substantial_Swan_144]

How can you contribute if you don't speak their language? What value do you bring?

[u/Substantial_Swan_144 → u/MrKapla]

What sort of question is even that?

Supposedly, the beauty of open source is exactly the diversity. So even if two professionals don't speak the same language, their different background can bring a new perspective and enrich a project.

Commercial software tends to have (or used to) professionals to bridge those people, if only out of self-interest. Open Source has always been deficiant on this matter.

[u/PixelatedGiant → u/Substantial_Swan_144]

And they can refuse to go in certain directions. See GIMP who refuses to become a Photoshop clone, even though that's what most people want from it.

[u/Indolent_Bard → u/PixelatedGiant]

It's also literally why the project exists. They claim that now they weren't interested in being a Photoshop clone, but the whole reason why they made it was because there wasn't a good Photoshop style software on Linux.

But at least now they're finally listening to their users and actually have a GitHub repo about it.

[u/Fr0gm4n → u/Substantial_Swan_144]

It's an environment of pseudo-freedom.

Just like freedom of speech is not a requirement to be heard, the freedom of FOSS is not a requirement to accept all contributions.