22/Feb/2023

whenever people say about open source, and specially about linux distro stuff, that the issue is "there's too many projects, it diverts work", what I have to say

1. just because there is a project that exists, doesn't mean people are interested in it for a reason or another

you can't assume that if 10 people weren't working on 'paint program b', they would be working in 'paint program a' instead

say, 'program a' has a toxic bdfl for example

and I'd say 10 different programs that get a bit of work done on each, is better than 1 that would get maybe 5% more work done, with that 5% more having less attachment to the project

2. projects are trying to do different things

one program is supposed to be simple and have all features upfront

another is a power users program that doesn't mind having 10 sub menus full of different tools

and this is fine, each one can do it's thing the best it can, not everything needs to be a one size fits all

3. unlike proprietary stuff, open source projects aren't mutually exclusive

different projects can still share ideas and components and standards

which also makes it okay for projects to fail - the work left behind is not lost forever in a intranet server bound to the limbo of some defunct company's copyright and patents - they can be re started, or parts of it used or studied for next generations to come

is this a random thoughts post? yes

even in relation to my previous post about matrix clients, I honestly prefer seeing these different projects trying each to do its best with its own ideas ind quirkiness, than any other way

also, as you might have noticed this isn't a very well thought out posts, more of a toot that got too long