>Hmmm, why don't we treat this as a software project and: > > 1) Do requirements gathering > a) ask our customers (users) what they need > b) ask parters what they need (mh-e, exmh) > 2) Come up with work estimates > 3) Figure out when we want to release > 4) Schedule what will fit > a) review it with customers and partners > b) refine it > 5) Do the work > 6) Document it > 7) Test > 8) Release > 9) Lather, rinse, repeat > >Or has getting paid to do software damaged my mind?
I think this is a great idea. But I think the chances of it happening are unlikely. For example .... I'm a guy with a limited amount of free time, and (for example) I don't really care about IMAP support, for example (except in an abstract way). So I'm unlikely to care if someone specifies a requirement for it. Maybe I'll care in the future ... but I'm not going to invest a lot of free time into working on a feature that I wouldn't personally use. Gathering requirements? Feh, sounds boring ... I'm SO not going to do that. Documentation? Well, I'll comment the C-code, and maybe I'll write a README ... if I don't have anything better to do that weekend. Now, this may sound rather cynical, but I'm only saying what I've seen in regards to open source projects. People tend to work on what they find interesting and/or what they need. Now, if someone wants to do this, then I think that would be great. Occasionally you will find a volunteer who is willing to do all of these tasks that many developers find non-interesting. If we find someone to do that, then hey, I say "more power to them". That person hasn't yet appeared, but maybe they're out there. I used to do commercial software development, so I know where you're coming from. But the goal there was to make money (both personally and as a product). Doing all of that "boring" stuff (gathering features from the users, etc etc) all furthers the goal of making money. --Ken _______________________________________________ Nmh-workers mailing list [email protected] http://lists.nongnu.org/mailman/listinfo/nmh-workers
