Fwd: Re: Application duplication (was: Re: cdbakeoven)

[Marc Mutz]

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On Saturday 20 April 2002 15:14, Guillaume Laurent wrote:
> On Saturday 20 April 2002 13:54, Marc Mutz wrote:
> > Free software is also about choice.
>
> And that's its curse. That everyone feels entitled to create yet another
> irc client, window manager, mp3 player, etc... because "free software is
> about choice". In some cases it's justified (like when you want good
> integration with a platform), but in general it's just ego-driven, and all
> you get is a bunch of half-finished programs.
<snip>

If that is where it ends up, I agree. If parallel developments slow down the 
overall progress, then there's something to fix. Yet, you'll still have a 
hard time convincing any of the authors to give up on their own work to help 
further the "competitor".

> Try to imagine what it would be like to have a similar choice about
> something you don't really care about, and see if it's still cool.

There's a difference between having choice and being forced to choose.
People _want_ the freedom to choose. That doesn't mean they want to care.

I agree that nobody should be forced to choose and the current KMenu does this 
in a few places. I never argued that. My point is that the fix can't be to 
cut on the choice, but that the presentation has to be improved instead.

Marc

- -- 
Marc Mutz <mutz at kde.org>
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