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To: ShadowAce
All bugs are shallow, right?

Actually, my point is quite simple - KDE, like most OSS projects, has a dedicated core of developers who do the vast, vast majority of coding for the project. The chances of someone outside this inner core of developers actually sitting down with the code and looking for bugs are basically non-existent. The projects are too large and too complicated for dillettantes to have much of an impact - the amount of work needed to familiarize yourself with the codebase in order to make meaningful contributions pretty much bars folks from simply dipping in and shotgunning some bug fixes into place. So, effectively, the "many eyeballs" paradigm is simply an illusion in most cases. It sounds nice in theory, but it doesn't really exist in reality.

19 posted on 01/23/2006 1:01:58 PM PST by Senator Bedfellow
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To: Senator Bedfellow
I do understand your point. With a project the size of KDE, it may even be valid. The difference as I see it, has to do with the motivation/ability of the developers. With a closed-source project, the company must balance talent with costs, thus the developers assigned to the project usually barely cover the needs of that project. Hence, their ability to discover, track, and correct bugs is limited by time and priorities.

With FLOSS, any developer can join the project. The project cansupport as many interested developers as want to join. This, plus the motivation of the involved developers being more project-oriented than closed-source developers, and yes--all bugs are shallow in comparison with closed-source projects.

20 posted on 01/23/2006 1:15:46 PM PST by ShadowAce (Linux -- The Ultimate Windows Service Pack)
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