FreeBSD has serious problems with focus, longevity, and lifecycle

[richo]

On 17/01/12 02:21 +0000, Igor Mozolevsky wrote:
>On 17 January 2012 01:02, richo <richo at psych0tik.net> wrote:
>
>> This would be a different argument if all the devs were paid a salary.
>
>Isn't this a bit of a cyclical argument: developers don't work because
>they are not paid a salary, the end-user base shrinks, BigCo doesn't
>want to pay for someone to put extra work in getting fBSD to do
>something that it can get elsewhere (eg Linux), fewer still developers
>work on fBSD, end-user base shrinks, BigCo is even more reluctant,
>even fewer....

Potentially, but it doesn't invalidate it, imo.

I'm very aware that the code I produce for $WORK is very different to code I
write in my own time. Code for $WORK is wrapped in test cases, clean, neat
and well documented.

code I write in my own time tends to be hackish, incomplete totally
undocumented and ludicrously easy to break because I'm intrigued by
implementing a single interesting figure that has my attention, or to see
whether or not a concept is technically feasible.

This is a shortcoming of mine that I should work to overcome, but I feel that
the same thing would likely extend to other developers, though in most cases
to a lesser degree. Without some other motivation most people naturally
gravitate towards newer "cool" features, rather than doing the relatively
boring maintenence and backporting.

Note though, that recognising this highlights my respect for the people who
take the time to do it, even though it may not be as "cool" as working on the
latest and greatest new feature.

--
richo || Today's excuse:

emissions from GSM-phones
http://blog.psych0tik.net
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