Re: Advantages/Disadvantages of Open Source Software (Was Re: Package grub-xen-host breaks PV domains with 11.5 point release)
On 9/12/22 3:32 PM, Michael Stone wrote:
> On Mon, Sep 12, 2022 at 01:47:49PM -0400, Chuck Zmudzinski wrote:
> >Well, I suppose so, but I am pleased that a grub maintainer is now on the case. Still,
> >there is another Debian bug that affects me that continues to be ignored, so I admit
> >I have an attitude about that. I accept that what is of grave or important severity to
> >me is not necessarily of grave or critical severity to the official Debian maintainers
> >and developers. I wish to merely point out that what is often said about the advantages
> >and disadvantages of free, open-source software that is maintained by volunteers is
> >true:
>
> No, it's a misguided conclusion that isn't supported by facts. I can
> think of any number of bugs in closed source software that aren't fixed.
> The only real difference is this: with open source software you might
> actually be told "I'm not going to prioritize this because I'm a
> volunteer and prefer to do something else", while with propietary
> software the discussion that concludes "this customer isn't important
> enough to require a change in the priority of the request" isn't going
> to be public and all you'll ever be told is that the request is being
> reviewed or somesuch.
>
> There is an exception that proves the rule, however: if you're a large
> enough customer, paying enough money, you may well get a team of people
> dedicated to implementing whatever you ask for. But here's the
> thing--you can get the same level of service for open source software,
> if you're willing to pay for it. (Not directly from debian, but there
> are consultants/etc that will provide such services.) Your complaint
> really boils down to "I can't get personalized/dedicated support with
> enforceable SLAs for free", which is just as true for proprietary
> software as it is for open source software.
>
I actually agree free/oss is better - if I was a big paying customer
(I am not), I would pay for a free/oss solution instead of a proprietary
solution because the entire development of the solution would be in the
open which would make it more difficult for the persons implementing
the solution to do anything malicious behind closed doors.
Still, I think it is obvious that the success of free/oss projects depends
very much on whether or not the persons who volunteer as developers
and maintainers actually respond to and fix bugs. Also, if the persons
who volunteer as developers and maintainers can ignore bug
reports without any consequences from the community, then the
possibility for free/oss software to fully realize the advantages of the
free/oss software development model over the proprietary model is
undermined.
Best regards,
Chuck
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