Is progress being made - actual progress?

[H.E. Pennypacker]

The idea of open source software is to allow innovation based on input from different people, but I am not so sure the open source community really is applying this advantage.

1. Take a look at XMMS. Some people decided to, instead of improving XMMS, start an entirely new project. Wait...isn't starting all over a waste of time when you already have a code base you can work with? Some forked XMMS. Some started from scratch. Starting from scratch, even though XMMS' code could be considered messy, may not be worth it at all. This is not exclusive to XMMS. Lots of other projects do the same thing: starting from scratch, and not relying on code from other people.

2. Is Ubuntu the very best it can be today? Most would say no. Many would say Distro A is faster. Some would say Distro B is more secure. Others would say that Distro C is easier to use. Yet others would say Distro D has better package management. Why not take the best from all of these distros and include them in Ubuntu?

3. Are problems from a few years ago fully addressed today? Many would say there are lots of problems that have not been dealt with yet. Therefore, progress is dead is certain areas.

I am frustrated with a number of developers not taking advantage of open source model: all the innovation you need is right there. Everything is free and open, yet progress, in certain areas, is simply stuck.

[LaRoza]

Are you a programmer? I am assuming you are not.

If every good feature were included in a single distro, it would be too bloated and unwieldly. There are thousands of Linux distros, some are made for very specific purposes, e.g. you probably have no use for fccu, but I do.

With open source software you will naturally have a "web" of software instead of a "tree". Where do you start when you have thousands of other projects working? You have to start somewhere and often that means not spending all your time examining other code and apps. In fact, it always means that.

[Mazza558]

Have a look for yourself:

http://www.ubuntu.com/testing/tribe1

[Erik Trybom]

1. Joining an existing project is a natural way for many programmers to contribute to free software. Sometimes however you find that you have ideas which cannot be implemented in the existing project. Perhaps you want to take the project in one direction while the rest of the developers want to go the opposite way. Then a fork might be a good way to proceed.

Of course, there are times when you want to create a whole new project with clean, self-written code. Nothing wrong with that either. This freedom of choice for programmers is part of what makes free software so great.

2. Sure, if you want a fast distro Slackware might be a better choice. Debian IS more stable than Ubuntu, no doubt about it. And if you want easiness there is Mepis and others that include more proprietary stuff by default.

However, all those distros have disadvantages of their own. What makes Ubuntu so great is that it tries to find a middle-ground between speed and features, between stability and new software, and between easiness of use and strictly free software. By going in one direction you must sacrifice something else. What you're asking is "why can't we build a car that's fast as a Ferrari, safe as a Volvo, comfortable as a Cadillac and fuel-efficient as a Mitsubishi?"

3. This is actually a more interesting topic to discuss. Are there areas in which development stands still because no one happens to work on them, or feel they are too boring?

Anyone have a good example of this?

[ThinkBuntu]

Is it not good enough that there are no fewer than 20 distros out there that can all draw close or be much better than Windows, and that they're all free? Why don't you and a small team of developers show everyone else how wrong their model is, take the best of everything, and skillfully integrate it. Then watch people say that your system is too slow, too bloated, missing such-and-such features, and not as good as ______ for ______, or simply not as good as __________.

[23meg]

Lots of other projects do the same thing: starting from scratch, and not relying on code from other people.

I don't know what exactly the case was with XMMS, but rewrites happen almost always when they absolutely must, for example when some of the components relied on are deprecated.


2. Is Ubuntu the very best it can be today? Most would say no. Many would say Distro A is faster. Some would say Distro B is more secure. Others would say that Distro C is easier to use. Yet others would say Distro D has better package management. Why not take the best from all of these distros and include them in Ubuntu?

You're perhaps unaware of the volume of work that travels across distros, but that notwithstanding, it's the same as the reasons why you can't just take all the great features of different cars and make them into one perfect car (OK, the car analogy is just obligatory and doesn't work very well, but you get the point):

1) Resources to do it are always limited

2) For that reason, and others, you have to make compromises

3) Due to compromises, you'd end up with a half-baked product

4) Due to that, few would use it, and be deprived of separate products that do their thing well


3. Are problems from a few years ago fully addressed today? Many would say there are lots of problems that have not been dealt with yet. Therefore, progress is dead is certain areas.

True, and the problem is almost always one of the two:

1) The decision making process clogs the pipe

2) There's simply nobody available to do the job

What can be done?

1) Work on making social mechanisms better

2) Be the resource. Write code, test, triage, donate money, document; do whatever you can.


I am frustrated with a number of developers not taking advantage of open source model: all the innovation you need is right there. Everything is free and open, yet progress, in certain areas, is simply stuck.

Just because everything is open doesn't mean everything is doable, and much less doable instantly and optimally.

[az]

The idea of open source software is to allow innovation based on input from different people, but I am not so sure the open source community really is applying this advantage.

1. Take a look at XMMS. Some people decided to, instead of improving XMMS, start an entirely new project. Wait...isn't starting all over a waste of time when you already have a code base you can work with? Some forked XMMS. Some started from scratch. Starting from scratch, even though XMMS' code could be considered messy, may not be worth it at all. This is not exclusive to XMMS. Lots of other projects do the same thing: starting from scratch, and not relying on code from other people.

2. Is Ubuntu the very best it can be today? Most would say no. Many would say Distro A is faster. Some would say Distro B is more secure. Others would say that Distro C is easier to use. Yet others would say Distro D has better package management. Why not take the best from all of these distros and include them in Ubuntu?

3. Are problems from a few years ago fully addressed today? Many would say there are lots of problems that have not been dealt with yet. Therefore, progress is dead is certain areas.

I am frustrated with a number of developers not taking advantage of open source model: all the innovation you need is right there. Everything is free and open, yet progress, in certain areas, is simply stuck.
1. XMMS is a pretty bad example, since there are more than a dozen music/media players available. It's like writing your own text editor as a programming project.

2. Yes, Ubuntu is the best that the free-libre software world can offer. I doubt other distros are significantly faster, nor are they more secure.

3. See for yourself. Download Debian woody (from 2000). Then try to install it. Download Warty (from 2004) and see the difference with what we have today.

[Nikron]

2. Yes, Ubuntu is the best that the free-libre software world can offer. I doubt other distros are significantly faster, nor are they more secure.


I hope you've atleast tried other distros =P

And yes progress is being done. You probably don't see it because you're on a distro that freezes every 6 months. But updates are constantly happen, and things get better and better. The reason why some things never get done is because no one who can program cares. If you care, then code it. If you can't code, go find someone to do it for you, or learn how to code. That's how it works when everything is free =P