|| Why does the project need an external force to succeed?|| Not all do. But a lot do and I would suggest a majority do. It is the same principle in business. I am putting together training courses in the renewable energy and water sectors. I have a lot of support. People willing to be presenters/lecturers (for free) and companies willing to send people to courses. I have plenty of free professional advice. I have all of that, but to get it up and rolling i need cash - and lots of it. So many software projects are the same. Smaller ones are one thing but anything of substance needs genuine cash support or it will either take a long time or it will fail totally. Linux is shown up as the prime case of open source development but it actually shows many of its weaknesses. For one, it has taken 20 years to get here - and by here, we mean a fragmented, multi-standard OS that has a lot of advantages and as many - if not more - disadvantages. $50M, 10 years ago might have seen Linux as the dominant OS in the market rather than a minor player loved by nerds and IT people and virtually unknown by joe-average. Open source is great but it has many limitations that seem to be ignored. And the proof is on peoples computers.
-----Original Message----- From: [email protected] [mailto:[email protected]] On Behalf Of Ed Leafe Sent: Wednesday, 21 April 2010 11:24 AM To: ProFox Email List Subject: Re: VFP Studio - vapourware ? On Apr 20, 2010, at 9:46 PM, geoff wrote: > || If the community is not willing to "step up", then the project isn't > worth doing. Sorry, but that's the bottom line in open source development.|| > > And while true, it demonstrates the biggest weakness of open source > development. Some products need big dollars put up front to get off the > ground. I would suggest that this is one of them. You're missing the point. Why does the project need an external force to succeed? Surely if there is a pressing need, there will be people who recognize this, and will contribute. With external funding, a project will get further along, but why? Obviously it's not solving a problem that is too severe, or others would be more than willing to jump on board. And why invest $$ into a project that is not going to be sold? Just because someone has an idea for a project that would be really cool when it is done, doesn't mean the project should be done. People will invest their time to alleviate development pain; they will not invest simply for coolness sake unless they are paid. -- Ed Leafe [excessive quoting removed by server] _______________________________________________ Post Messages to: [email protected] Subscription Maintenance: http://leafe.com/mailman/listinfo/profox OT-free version of this list: http://leafe.com/mailman/listinfo/profoxtech Searchable Archive: http://leafe.com/archives/search/profox This message: http://leafe.com/archives/byMID/profox/[email protected] ** All postings, unless explicitly stated otherwise, are the opinions of the author, and do not constitute legal or medical advice. This statement is added to the messages for those lawyers who are too stupid to see the obvious.
