On Sun, Nov 23, 2003 at 11:44:51AM -0800, Bob Miller wrote: > >Here is a discussion topic. > >What open source project/product is the moral equivalent of Microsoft >Bob? Not the literal equivalent, a smiley face that tells you >irrelevant things about using a computer, but a project that >symbolizes technology gone stupid? > >I'm thinking there has to be one (or several), but nothing is coming >to mind. >
I think that Open Source is less vulnerable to the Massive Ill-Conceived Malinvestment that Bob represented, due mainly to its recruitment model. Once it dawns on the developers that they're working on something stupid and uninteresting, they wander off to some other project. In the corporate world, the developers must code or move into cardboard boxes, and decisions are often made without reference to reality by management far above them in the chain of command. A more typical Open Source failure mode is the Dinky Little Project That Never Ships Or Does Anything Useful; there are hundreds of GPL OSen that nearly boot on the lead developer's crashbox, for example. You will recognize the sort of thing from http://unpythonic.net/~jepler/cgi-bin/rottenflesh.cgi -- How about "suspender snapping three martini lunching mahogany tabled conference room equipped with overhead projector dwelling golden parachute flying bill gates specifying buzzword spewing computerworld and datamation reading trend bandwagoneering meeting going morons". -- Tom O'Toole _______________________________________________ EuG-LUG mailing list [EMAIL PROTECTED] http://mailman.efn.org/cgi-bin/listinfo/eug-lug
