On Thu, 2005-10-06 at 23:09, Paul Sanders wrote:
> i think some people in the free and open source world should expose
> themselves to commercial software a bit more. it's playing to the
> gallery to suggest that commercial programmers are perverted
> flatterers, and that the software tricks its users into being less
> creative. and really - open source people don't flatter each other?
> what nonsense.
I don't think the "open sourceness" of an application automatically
makes a piece of software more creatively useful. You get great closed
source apps and you get rubbish open source ones, obviously.
The thing is that the software alex is talking about has had the
advantage of being driven by forces other than a marketing department.
These forces *tend* to work in a more interesting creative direction -
rather than having to appeal to a marketplace with the latest must-have
features/user interface gimmicks. It is this, I think, which is a little
breath of fresh air for a lot of people. This isn't exclusive to free
software, clearly - but it is inherent in the method of it's production.
I think it's a lot stronger argument for the artist who is willing to
become the programmer, as using free software immediately allows you a
much greater ability to define a creative process which is more
personal. This does not apply at all to a lot of people (sadly imho).
cheers,
dave
Received on Thu Oct 06 2005 - 23:42:58 BST