Famous foreign websites "Defamation" published an article today from well-known journalist Bruce Bayfield's commentary said the free and open source software (hereinafter referred to as FOSS) communities biggest enemy is not Microsoft, nor any other company, but the FOSS community itself . FOSS community does not exist in nine attitude conducive to the development of FOSS, reads as follows:
I am very love of freedom and open source software. There are two reasons: First, a servant of freedom in this area, I can write what you really want to write; Second, the open source community is not only very smart people, but also full of passion and courage to practice. This is an exciting field, for the work in this area I am very lucky.
However, sometimes the FOSS community's biggest enemy may be itself. The view of some deep-rooted to FOSS community solidarity is no longer the same as before, is not conducive to FOSS common goal - to provide proprietary software or open source alternative to the spirit of free and open source software. In fact, the open source community more or less at certain times people have these attitudes, including me, but we have very little to talk openly about them. And it is for this reason, these attitudes are continuing to impact on the advance of the community.
To overcome these problems the first to admit they exist, these are my own and from around the FOSS community who summed up the nine common problems for reference:
1, do not know the common development of rival
At any time, FOSS FOSS community is the foundation of ideals or beliefs, it is inevitable that different views exist. This religious and political groups with some similar standards for FOSS, people have different views, and arguments among whom, it is not surprising.
However, many times when people forget the debate have a common goal. Some professional or semi-professional scholars to attack other members of the community as his own career, I am not mentioning their names, because that will be issued free of charge for the advertising they do.
These scholars are often stunned the world, but in most cases, their motives are just to raise their visibility, while completely ignoring their words brought to the open source community's divisive.
Worse, now free software and open source software there is a split between supporters. Undeniably, there is a difference between the two ideas: the free software are more concerned about the freedom of users; and even more attention to high-quality open source software. Despite these differences, but the members of the two camps often use the same license for the same project work, and have a common goal.
So why is critical to seize the difference between the two tightly? In this world, no one can find and its the same as another person.
2, too much attention to procedures
Program is a common interest in FOSS community, it is natural, community members will spend a lot of time to discuss it. However, if you want to FOSS in the community and others who are interested in your program, just talk about the process itself, may have little effect, unless the other party is also a developer. Even the most prominent feature of FOSS - free of charge, people may have little interest in this, otherwise, should be more people to use the shared software.
For most people, although there is a long time every day using the computer, but the process itself is not their best interest.
As the Free Software Foundation Executive Director Peter Brown has pointed out many years ago, FOSS needs to examples of waste recycling campaign to learn something. Recovery did not explain to people who are melting the glass and then re-use process, they are just talking about recycling can to the benefit of everyone's life.
Similarly, FOSS community will stop talking about its licensing procedures or methods, some of it away more about the benefits to consumers, such as user rights, privacy and freedom of speech, not just limited to the computer program itself.
3, to meet the imitation of other operating systems
Over the years, FOSS has been imitating Windows and OS X. This imitation is inevitable, because FOSS late start, but in a very long period of time, money and manpower in terms of lack of competition than a lot of proprietary software.
In addition, if an open source operating system to meet the people have a very familiar mode of operation, then it allows people to more easily switch to it from other operating systems on. Developers do not have to waste time reinventing the window menu style or copy / paste the key combination.
However, the imitation of the practice has its own weaknesses. May lead to blind copy, for example, by imitating it to the main menu design in the lower left corner, but actually on the top left corner if it can be more convenient for people to use it. In addition, the copy means that you are always at least a step slower than the others. This is not conducive to attracting new users, who prefer to use one that does not have the latest design and functionality of the operating system do?
In fact, in many ways, FOSS has to catch up or are about to catch up with commercial operating systems, such as desktop applications and Office applications suite. In some ways even leading edge, such as the latest KDE4. However, most community members have not yet completed from imitation to innovation in the ideological transformation, which may block the advance of FOSS.
Ubuntu founder Mark Shuttleworth as last summer, as claimed, it is not enough just to catch up with Apple's goal should be over it.
4, on the new unfriendly
All communities are groups of people into a circle. There are many FOSS community has existed for many years groups, together with its development is built on the basis of membership contributions, so compared to other communities, it may be even more closed to newcomers, isolated. If a newcomer hoping to integrate into the community, not only to the first contribution to a certain amount of technical expertise, but also to understand the many unwritten rules.
Perhaps we can understand the situation, but these practices are inexcusable, and many community members who made no secret of the impatience of the new and contempt. In the open source community, I have seen many times for the novice to some simple questions in response is "RTFM (read the manual that damn short)" and I think this response is not polite to lose let rookies understand the interest in FOSS.
Obviously, many community members do not realize that most people encounter problems, the first to hope is to obtain help from others, rather than their own to read the documentation, or, if we can get the right help, perhaps He will establish a link with the community, the future might also contribute to the community.
Of course, not everyone is suitable for technical support. However, a simple guide code, may be able to make real newcomers to the community, not patience or contempt, it will only allow them to stay away from the community, which is obviously inconsistent with the spirit of free and open source software.
5, developers have the same privileges
FOSS launched in developers, but until now their work is still the center of the open source movement. However, many people may not notice, this community's growth has far exceeded the original size. Especially in some large projects, document writers, testers, designers, marketing personnel and managers, have become an important contributor. A FOSS software release, has become a lot of people with different skills, the result of joint collaboration.
However, despite this change, in many projects, developers usually have a non-"second-class citizen" treatment. In many cases, they can not become a true member of the project, but do not have the right to vote. If a non-developer proposed a project helpful suggestions, in most cases the developer's response was, "We look forward to your code", otherwise, not be considered.
In this environment, if non-developers to lose enthusiasm for the project, it is not surprising. If you lose them, a modern software project a lot of work had not even completed.
6, the energy is concentrated on the hate Microsoft
Microsoft, the community has been skeptical, indeed, in addition to Microsoft, not a proprietary software company has been hostile to FOSS, and the recent show good and far too frequently hypocritical, difficult to impress people in the open source community. However, part of the open source community seem to be more energy to fight for and against Microsoft, the top and forget the principle of freedom of the computer industry.
There are several areas that could get us reduce this hostility, first of all, it will not help achieve the goal FOSS can not improve our efficiency. As the openSUSE Community Leader Joe Brockmeier has pointed out, instead of spending time on hate Microsoft on open source projects do not contribute as much on some power.
More importantly, these feelings can cause people outside the open source community's misunderstanding that this is the mainstream attitude of open-source community, and thus finds the open source community in a Yuan Fu like everyone, suspicious and like to complain. This is not conducive to encouraging outside involvement in the FOSS community.
However, strong anti-Microsoft sentiment to give up the biggest reason is that it may allow community members to ignore the other proprietary software rivals. For example, it does not seem to care about Apple's ownership of actions, in fact, in many ways, Apple has become a major rival FOSS.
7, the commercial development as a growth model
FOSS projects are more and more like some large commercial software sector, for example, many products, whether or not to publish a new version of need, are set to release a fixed version of the program, which has become the standard number of projects, including GNOME, Ubuntu and Fedora, etc. . Recently, Ubuntu's founder also put forward the major projects implemented in its "simultaneous release plan"'s point of view the issuers business Geng easy to plan the Genju version released, Buguozhijin far, 杩欎釜 view does not get more support.
In some cases, learn from experience in business application development approach is very useful. However, we should always bear in mind, though FOSS can use commercial software development model, but their goals are different. For example, when a project committed to regularly release new version, does go against the open source "ready redistribution, rather than engage in regularly published" principle? If if he continues, quality control is inevitable to happen sooner or later of.
More importantly, FOSS development is fundamentally different from the majority of commercial software development. In many cases, FOSS developers in the majority of the members are a large number of volunteers scattered around the world, not a commercial development team. FOSS development, as evidenced by history, this environment means that it must form their own side of the development side of the workflow. For example, if the testers are volunteers, how do you ensure that the required test plan can be completed on time? Therefore, and many other things, like, FOSS needs innovation, rather than simply using "used."
8, the market share as the primary goal
If you give up the FOSS ideals, or the user does not support them, by having more users is meaningless. Market share growth for the same time excited, FOSS community needs to remember, your goal is not just to provide an alternative software, but the computer industry to promote the free open-source ideas and relationships.
If people are only concerned to gain market share, might cause the number of members of the community growth, but may be the most successful moments are the most important things lost.
9, no need to implement a completely free operating system
Now from a fully non-proprietary operating system objectives have been very close, you might think that people in the open source community will work harder to achieve this goal. However, according to the Free Software Foundation recently released "The most urgent need to complete a free software project" data, in the community many people think that there is no need to achieve this ultimate goal. Because they believe that, in any case it must use proprietary drivers for the graphics, or to use YouTube, Adobe Flash Player. We have been very close to free desktop system, so no need to consider the completion of the remaining some distance, at least all the other projects are available for free download.
This think the situation is good enough view, it seems contrary to open source software in the important principle of the pursuit of perfection. More specifically, this means accepting defeat and gave up the idea to provide free alternative operating system. When the distance is so close to the ultimate goal of the time, why did he choose to abandon it?
Conclusion
For the FOSS community, there is the attitude, people may have different views. I know that many people will they have different views, for or against my views.
However, my purpose is not only to focus attention on these issues. My real idea is, FOSS has been growing so quickly to such a large scale, it takes time to review and inventory of yourself, if the views of some of the old is still useful or whether new methods are consistent with its core values. Become larger in the past, the open source community to check and evaluate their own attitudes. Otherwise, it will face great risks, if not complete failure, for their own development process will bring some unnecessary obstacles.
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