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/turudd]

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.