Limits of Open Source development.
Howie wrote:
This is a good example of why open source development is so important, especially for a small volunteer organization.
While I generally agree that there is a strong argument for open source development, it is important to realize that it has limitations. I am particularly grumpy about those limits today since I am involved in a particular project where all the open source goodness of GNU and Ubuntu was unable to provide well motivated engineers with working tools to properly migrate user preferences in what should have been a simple upgrade.
de KM1P Joe
I don't think I agree with this. The main advantage of FOSS is that since you have access to the code you have a fighting chance, and more importantly, the right, to modify that software. Meaning someone could have sat down and added that feature and allowed others to benefit from it.
Interestingly, that's probably something I could have cranked out. But given AMSAT has ignored literally _every_ volunteer form I have taken the time to fill out I guess we'll never know.
On Tue, Dec 8, 2020, 2:08 PM Joe Fitzgerald joe.km1p@gmail.com wrote:
Howie wrote:
This is a good example of why open source development is so important, especially for a small volunteer organization.
While I generally agree that there is a strong argument for open source development, it is important to realize that it has limitations. I am particularly grumpy about those limits today since I am involved in a particular project where all the open source goodness of GNU and Ubuntu was unable to provide well motivated engineers with working tools to properly migrate user preferences in what should have been a simple upgrade.
de KM1P Joe
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On 12/08/20 13:34, Nathan Thomas wrote:
I don't think I agree with this. The main advantage of FOSS is that since you have access to the code you have a fighting chance, and more importantly, the right, to modify that software. Meaning someone could have sat down and added that feature and allowed others to benefit from it.
Interestingly, that's probably something I could have cranked out. But given AMSAT has ignored literally _every_ volunteer form I have taken the time to fill out I guess we'll never know.
Nathan,
I tried to volunteer back in the early "naughts" (2003-2005 IIRC), and I never heard back. I suspect that the emails went into an email black hole.
Contact me off the list and we'll make sure that your offer to volunteer is sent to the right person.
Thanks,
--- Zach N0ZGO
Joe, I feel your pain having been there myself. Sometimes I was lucky enough to have someone like Nathan around to save me, others time not so much. Nathan, if your offer wasn’t followed up on it was probably because Joe didn’t see it. I don’t think he has ever turned down qualified help 😊
H0wie AB2S
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From: Nathan Thomasmailto:ki4hbd.nathan@gmail.com Sent: Tuesday, December 8, 2020 2:34 PM To: amsat-bb@amsat.orgmailto:amsat-bb@amsat.org Subject: [AMSAT-BB] Re: Limits of Open Source development.
I don't think I agree with this. The main advantage of FOSS is that since you have access to the code you have a fighting chance, and more importantly, the right, to modify that software. Meaning someone could have sat down and added that feature and allowed others to benefit from it.
Interestingly, that's probably something I could have cranked out. But given AMSAT has ignored literally _every_ volunteer form I have taken the time to fill out I guess we'll never know.
On Tue, Dec 8, 2020, 2:08 PM Joe Fitzgerald <joe.km1p@gmail.commailto:joe.km1p@gmail.com> wrote: Howie wrote:
This is a good example of why open source development is so important, especially for a small volunteer organization.
While I generally agree that there is a strong argument for open source development, it is important to realize that it has limitations. I am particularly grumpy about those limits today since I am involved in a particular project where all the open source goodness of GNU and Ubuntu was unable to provide well motivated engineers with working tools to properly migrate user preferences in what should have been a simple upgrade.
de KM1P Joe ----------------------------------------------- AMSAT-BB mailing list -- amsat-bb@amsat.orgmailto:amsat-bb@amsat.org View archives of this mailing list at https://mailman.amsat.org/hyperkitty/list/amsat-bb@amsat.org To unsubscribe send an email to amsat-bb-leave@amsat.orgmailto:amsat-bb-leave@amsat.org Manage all of your AMSAT-NA mailing list preferences at https://mailman.amsat.org
Nathan, I think we both agree with what you wrote:
" The main advantage of FOSS is that since you have access to the code you have a fighting chance, and more importantly, the right, to modify that software. Meaning someone could have sat down and added that feature and allowed others to benefit from it."
It is the unrealized potential FOSS that is making me grumpy. While I think you were referring to AMSAT satellite software, I was of course talking about GNU Mailman list software. The Mailman software is widely known, and the current version 3 has been under development for years so you would think that all the thousands of "someones" out in the open source development world would have gotten the Mailman migration tools right, but so far they have not. I put my faith in the open source development methodology and it let me down.
I am simply arguing for realistic expectations of the open source development model. To open source everything AMSAT would be expensive in terms of management labor and most likely lawyers, so lets clearly understand the likelihood that motivated, capable technical experts who can follow through will in fact present themselves as a result. One can of course point to some spectacular open source successes, but it is a lot easier to find stuff half baked and forgotton.
Open source or not, we can do a better job at communicating with each other. I am not that good at it ... I have spent at least 2 hours trying to write this e-mail without accidentally offending anyone, and I am not sure I succeeded. What baby steps can we all take togehter to open up as much information as we can as soon as we can?
de KM1P Joe
participants (4)
-
Howie DeFelice -
Joe Fitzgerald -
Nathan Thomas -
Zach Metzinger