Re: Good Idea In Theory
So true about the majority of user-facing applications needed to get the job done, most open source projects that would be alternatives to Windows only applications are between 85 and 90% to "solid enough to not choke on a few end users" trying to get something done and inadvertently using it in an unforeseen (by the devs) way. All the base Unix tools designed as filters work fantastically well (grep, sed, awk, and even many with a GUI like Wireshark, etc). It's the exponential complexity involved in most user facing applications that cause issues that eventually will get solved by continual engineering focused on bug reports, but most open source and even many supported open source projects can't afford to, or can't factor in the grinding discipline required to get the next 5% that would make the project viable for the mainstream. And having enough diversity of users is hard to get without an installed user base to laterally extend this new project user launch into, not impossible but reduces those odds further. There are successful open source projects that get there but I believe Microsoft and others still treat them as cancers to be excised from "their" market as soon as possible.
Biting the hand that feeds IT
