How the FlightGear project works: Difference between revisions

Jump to navigation Jump to search

How the FlightGear project works (view source)

Revision as of 18:47, 8 February 2012

217 bytes removed ,  8 February 2012
m
→‎You need development guidelines
Line 90: Line 90:
You might have made general statements like 'There should be clear development guidelines', 'the project should not depend on a single person being around' or 'the developers should pay more attention to the users'. In theory, all these are beautiful - and who would object that these are all good things?
You might have made general statements like 'There should be clear development guidelines', 'the project should not depend on a single person being around' or 'the developers should pay more attention to the users'. In theory, all these are beautiful - and who would object that these are all good things?


The problem is that the reason that these things do not exist already have to do with how things are in practice - and you're not discussing that. The consequence of developers paying more attention to what users want, rather than what they are interested in, and not being free to ignore suggestions is that I potentially am asked to work on something I personally dislike because enough users want it. Nobody has said it to my face that this is what you want - but you don't need to, I can work out the consequences myself. Your whole case collapses because it doesn't talk about how to do things in practice: Who gets to decide what a relevant suggestion for the benefit of the project is and what a petty suggestion for the benefit of a single user is? Who gets to determine the guidelines and how - and what happens with people who don't want to follow? What happens if a developer doesn't want to code a feature even if 500 users signed a petition? What happens to a developer who belittles a conribution, and who enforces that and how? Once you start thinking these questions through, the moral high ground of the theoretical principles becomes a mud field of messiness and compromises.
The problem is that the reason that these things do not exist already have to do with how things are in practice.  


The consequence of developers paying more attention to what users want, rather than what they are interested in, and not being free to ignore suggestions is that a developer potentially is asked to work on something he personally dislikes, just because enough users want it.
Who gets to decide what a relevant suggestion for the benefit of the project is and what a petty suggestion for the benefit of a single user is?
Who gets to determine the guidelines and how - and what happens with people who don't want to follow? What happens if a developer doesn't want to code a feature even if 500 users signed a petition? What happens to a developer who belittles a contribution, and who enforces that and how? Once you start thinking these questions through, the moral high ground of the theoretical principles becomes a mud field of messiness and compromises.


= Telling volunteers what to do =
= Telling volunteers what to do =
Retrieved from "https://wiki.flightgear.org/Special:MobileDiff/40358"

Navigation menu