Apparently, Eric takes issue with my last post.
That last post wasn't really about my opinion of open source and quality, or if it was I didn't intend it to be, so I wasn't really thinking about my specific words as I wrote them and I won't try to defend them. Instead I will revise/clarify/completely-change-what-I-said: Open source can lead to higher quality software than proprietary competitor software in certain circumstances. That pretty much takes all the bite (and click bait) out of what I said and leaves us with a pretty much completely ambiguous, meaningless over-generalization to argue about. Oh well.
This is inherently not something that can be proved or disproved so there is no point in making the attempt. The best way to talk about it is in terms of examples, and the best example is (you knew it was coming): Linux vs Windows.
Some other very "high quality" software is Spring, Apache, Tomcat, MySQL, JBoss, and Subversion. Direct comparisons are often pointless since software is so often chosen based on specific requirements, but I think that many would agree that these examples are "better" than many proprietary counterparts. Better than all of them? Who can say? What does "better" even mean in the first place? "Better" can mean "cheaper" or "faster" or any number of things, but probably the best meaning in the business context (since open source doesn't have much success in the consumer market) would be "cost effective." And once we move to cost effectiveness, quality can start to matter a whole lot more or a whole lot less depending on the specific case and what the word "quality" means.
There's a lot more that could be said about this, but I don't care to do so now, so you'll just have to live with that lingering desperate longing you have for my amazing opinions.
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
1 comment:
In my last job, we all used the proprietary repository "Clear Case". In my current job, we use Subversion. After using both in the past year, it seems like I dislike the one I'm currently using.
Clear Case has some really nice features and UI elements (like a graphical view of trunks, branches, checkouts, etc.) that were really nice and I miss them. But it was so quirky and unstable sometimes. It didn't do want I thought it was going to do. It surprised me.
With Subversion, at least I know what I'm getting. I can always go to the command line and get things done when TortoiseSVN or Subclipse fail me. It is also nice because things like Tortoise and Subclipse exist only because Subversion is open source.
So I guess I'm saying that I agree with you that there is no real way to make a direct comparison. :)
Post a Comment