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Free software scares normal people

danieldelaney.net

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Re: Free software scares normal people

#471

Post by galagawinkle489 »

ChrisMarshallNY wrote: post #258
Dylan16807 wrote: post #257

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> see the other comment Which other comment? If you mean the one saying it's not harder than programming, that's not calling it easy.

It can be a lot harder. Programming, these days, isn't always that hard. Very different skillset. There was a comment about how ghastly a lot of software-developed graphical assets can be. Tasteful creativity does not grow on trees.

Programming well requires taste and creativity. A different type, but no less rare than taste and creativity in "arty" fields.

Re: Free software scares normal people

#472

Post by ChrisMarshallNY »

galagawinkle489 wrote: post #471
ChrisMarshallNY wrote: post #258

Earlier quoted context omitted.

It can be a lot harder. Programming, these days, isn't always that hard. Very different skillset. There was a comment about how ghastly a lot of software-developed graphical assets can be. Tasteful creativity does not grow on trees.

Programming well requires taste and creativity. A different type, but no less rare than taste and creativity in "arty" fields.

Exactly. It's amazing how we, as programmers, can demand that others recognize that, for us, but we, ourselves, refuse to give the same respect, in regards to other fields.

The same can be said for any vocation that generates a product. An expertly-crafted duck decoy can have the same level of experience and skill, as a database abstraction.

I have had the privilege to work with some of the top creatives, as well as scientists and engineers, in the world, and have seen the difference.

Re: Free software scares normal people

#473

Post by hshdhdhehd »

The problem is you need a simple app for each of the 100 use cases. Finding such simple apps (classic is joining PDFs so you can send many docs at once) means hitting the SEO soup of people trying to sell crappy software.

Being super simple ducks the problem.

Re: Free software scares normal people

#474

Post by hshdhdhehd »

f33d5173 wrote: post #190

People want features, and they're willing to learn complicated UIs to get them. A software that has hyper simplified options has a very limited audience. Take his example: we have somebody who has somehow obtained a "weird" video file, yet whose understanding of video amounts to wanting it to be "normal" so they can play it. For such a person, there are two paths: become familiar enough with video formats that you un…

I like the OBS software. Complex at first yes. But it has a magic solution: great one pager to get you started. Follow it and you are recording within a few seconds!

Re: Free software scares normal people

#475

Post by DarkLynxes »

The handbrake UI is not designed for "power users", the handbrake UI is designed to make available all the options the underlying technology provides, so that you may leverage it to the fullest.

If you don't want that, it provides you with presets.

I do understand that many users are too lazy to read a manual, do a google search, or put any minimal amount of effort in solving an issue, but making software worse or more convoluted the second you need to have a miniscule degree of extra control seems pointless.

Too many people look at FOSS the same way the look at commercial end user software, they think they are the equivalent of a custom and they should get a premium custom like experience. But that's false. Most of the time FOSS is the result of fixing a developer's problem, or fixing the problems of somebody who also happens to be a developer, and then sharing it all with the world.

You cannot be surprised when a software made by a developer offers every single possible setting, because that's exactly what it was meant to do in the first place.

The solution is not "making software easier", the solution is to RTFM.

Re: Free software scares normal people

#476

Post by Arch-TK »

The remote thing seems like a perfect use of 3D printing. With the tape there, there is still a risk someone will sit on the remote and get their device into a weird state. A 3D printed cover which clips over would be rigid enough to prevent any accidents, and easy to remove if some power user needs to do something unusual.

Re: Free software scares normal people

#477

Post by TazeTSchnitzel »

eviks wrote: post #378
fschuett wrote: post #127

> Free audio editing software that requires hours of learning to be useful for simple tasks. To be fair, the Audacity UX designer made a massive video about the next UX redesign and how he tried to get rid of "modes" and the "Audacity says no" problem: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QYM3TWf_G38 So this problem should get better in the future. Good UX (doesn't necessarily have to have a flashy UI, but just a good UX)…

the "modal disruption" is misguided - he cites as the challenge a very poor implementation in a MS app where the modes were barely visible!!! That's not a proof that modes are bad, just a statement that invisible information makes it hard for the users to adapt! Brushes (another mode he cites as great) are great precisly because their state is immediately visible in your focus area - your primary pointer changes Now…

> wasted some space that could be used for information

The space is used for information. The fact clips in Audacity finally have names and you can see those names is a fantastic improvement. The space taken up by the clip title is the handle.

Re: Free software scares normal people

#478

Post by skeltoac »

DarkLynxes wrote: post #475

The handbrake UI is not designed for "power users", the handbrake UI is designed to make available all the options the underlying technology provides, so that you may leverage it to the fullest. If you don't want that, it provides you with presets. I do understand that many users are too lazy to read a manual, do a google search, or put any minimal amount of effort in solving an issue, but making software worse or mo…

You call the users lazy for not wanting to read software manuals. Maybe you should rtfm on what other people are actually like.

Re: Free software scares normal people

#480

Post by Juliate »

DarkLynxes wrote: post #475

The handbrake UI is not designed for "power users", the handbrake UI is designed to make available all the options the underlying technology provides, so that you may leverage it to the fullest. If you don't want that, it provides you with presets. I do understand that many users are too lazy to read a manual, do a google search, or put any minimal amount of effort in solving an issue, but making software worse or mo…

"Laziness", "put any minimal amount of effort", RTFM... that's exactly the kind of language and perspective that's the problem.

The majority of your users are not lazy, they have gazillions of other things to think about and to do. Even when they are developers.

Now, that's up to you, as a maker, to decide who your tool is serving, and for what purpose: it's totally fine and valid to target the power user, or your specific use case. Just don't act surprised, or reject the responsibility, that someone else will find a bigger audience with a lesser product, only because it is more affordable, cognitively speaking.

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