Re: [Evolution] Evolution release and major regressions, a longtime user's thoughts

[Andrew Montalenti <ajm pixelmonkey org>]

Art,

[reply below]

On Wed, 2009-04-08 at 12:35 -0400, Art Alexion wrote:
> While I am as frustrated as you with some of the bugs and regressions
> that you mention, I don't think it is constructive, or even in your
> self interest, to take such a scolding and tattling tone with people,
> many of whom volunteer, to provide you with software for free.

I certainly appreciate all the effort that has gone into Evolution over
the years, and have gotten much utility out of using it.

Free software or not, there are basic standards for software releases
and engineering that should apply across the industry.  Evolution isn't
just in competition with other Free e-mail clients like Thunderbird or
Balsa.  It's in competition with proprietary e-mail clients as well,
like Outlook and GMail.

The purpose of Free Software is not to provide "barely good enough" or
"barely usable" software for no cost.  The purpose of Free Software is
not to abandon all software engineering practices so that software is
released in an ad-hoc way.  The purpose of Free Software is not to
develop functionality in a vacuum, without considering users' interests
and requirements.

Many open source products released throughout the years have shown that
Free Software can be *better*, and be *Free*.  These are not
countervailing trade-offs.  We should strive for providing *better*
software, developed in the open, and with source freely available.  It's
a complete cop-out to say, "Well, this is Free Software, so you have no
right to complain."

GNOME is a software community like any other, filled with users who have
choices.  Users can abandon GNOME software if it frustrates them and
does not make their life easier.  They can abandon it for other Free
Software choices, or they can abandon it for proprietary software.  In
the former case, you've lost a user, and in the latter case, you've lost
much more than just a user.  So listening to these complaints, even if
they do have a "scolding or tattling tone", is imperative for the health
of the community.

Andrew