[mythtv] 'stable' tag proposal

[Brad Templeton]

On Mon, Mar 21, 2005 at 07:05:36PM -0500, Jay R. Ashworth wrote:
> On Mon, Mar 21, 2005 at 06:48:24PM -0500, andrew burke wrote:
> Screw the users.  They're getting a *lot* of *really sweet* code FOR
> FREE.  They didn't have to pay Isaac or, in general, anyone else, *any
> money* for what they got.  And they were made aware that the code is
> prerelease -- if in no other fashion, by the version number.

Ah, but this misses out on the two reasons we want the users.  One
is only important to some developers, the other is important to all
developers.

The one that's only important to some is that some developers of OSS
code because they want their code to be used.  If I didn't care about
users I wouldn't put any care into docs, or maintainability by others
or any number of other things.   I think the majority of OSS coders
truly want their code to be used, many of them also want the accolades
and thanks and groupies.  Some want donations.  Some just want the
knowledge lots of people are making good use.   Some don't care about
any of this.

The second factor, however, is more compelling.  Having more users makes
your software stronger.  It makes it more tested and more robust.  It
gets it tried on lots more platforms.  And, perhaps most of all, it
gets more people to do development and add features and send in fixes.
Developers all start as users.  Nobody sits down and says, "I think
I'll write code for this program I have no interest in running."
And some users even contribute useful ideas even if they don't have time to
code them.

So while it's not true that you _owe_ the users anything, and they
should indeed be thankful -- it is still the case that "Screw the users"
is the wrong philosophy.  Not for the users, but for the developers.

This doesn't mean bow down and treat the users better than paying
customers, to cater to their whims.  It just recognizes their place
in the OSS value chain is not simply as leeching consumer.