Andrew Suffield wrote:
Software has a purpose. Its purpose must be evident for users, otherwise no one will use it. Documentation allows this process to take place. Good documentation can make the difference between a widely used program and an unused program. Therefor to say that bug fixing and documentation, while necessarily subsequent to the production of code, are subordinate in a hierarchical fashion is specious. This is the crux of the matter - those that write code feel that coding is more important than anything else. But the truth is you need users too, and everything that goes with them. This is what Microsoft recognized. They developed programs that were easy to use above all, and they gained a huge market.On Tue, May 17, 2005 at 08:24:18AM +0200, Enrico Zini wrote:On Tue, May 17, 2005 at 03:45:21PM +1000, Anthony Towns wrote:Telsa Gwynne wrote:But writing and bug-finding /are/ subordinate though -- in the sense they only happen after the code's written...But damn, the idea that all of this is completely and utterly subordinateto your "clever coders" galls me.
Debian has an excellent opportunity to turn the tables by listening to users and non-coders when developing programs.
Frankly I feel this is a failed analogy. Firstly because within capitalism "value" is created, it does not only exist inherently. Therefor as raw materials become commodified, the baker becomes more powerful than the miller because he "adds value" so the miller becomes subordinate to the baker. Secondly we all have different values so your sense of value of the farmer or baker is vastly different than mine.<>I think the problem raises when such a 'subordination' is somehow given a rank by value. It's normal to have jobs that are subordinate to each other, yet very important on themselves: the baker is subordinate to the miller, which in turn is subordinate to the farmer, but we don't usually value the miller or the farmer more than the baker.
I agree. People should not have their worth determined by the laws of supply and demand.<> The moment you start assigning values to people, instead of work, you've lost.
Jeremiah