[Owncloud] disappointed users

[david at x2592.com]

Hi,

I thought I'd chip in because I've watched and contributed to a few 
other OS projects in the past, and I've this current discussion crop up 
in every one of them.

Part of the 'price' you have to pay for using Open Source software is 
that you need to pay back and contribute by reporting bugs and issues. 
To do it properly necessarily requires a bit of commitment. But if you 
want to see your problem fixed ASAP, you have to help out.

I, too, can see that OC is still very much a developing product, even 
though the core functionality - a Web interface to file storage space - 
is working fairly well for me.

But - obviously - there's a lot of other functionality that is still in 
alpha/beta/first release form. Hardly surprising when you consider the 
complexities of the problem OC addresses, and the variety of add-on 
functionality in development.

For instance, I'm watching and waiting for progress on the multimedia 
playback.

Plus, me too, I'm closely watching the desktop sync client. But imagine 
how development is complicated by the need to develop for a variety of 
very different platforms. So it's not really surprising that 'stability' 
is taking time to accomplish.

I'm very impressed with the regularity that the devs release new 
versions and the number of bugs that get squashed. This really is a live 
and seriously-supported software.

However, you have to have realistic and patient expectations with a 
project like this one. I'm guessing that a lot of progress will have 
been achieved in the next year. But it still doesn't discourage me from 
using OC now, even for work with clients. You just have to remember that 
there are no guarantees being offered about complete reliability and 
readiness for mission-critical needs, and you have to have back-up 
solutions ready in case problems arise. Nonetheless, like Linux itself 
(for instance), OC will gradually arrive at full maturity, I'm sure.

And you do have to remember that 'free' software does have a price, if 
you want it to thrive and grow: you need to help out if you can - at 
least by contributing to bug reporting, and by understanding the devs' 
needs in terms of detail and info.

2 cents, ;-)

David