Free software scares normal people
danieldelaney.net
Free software scares normal people
1–10 of 641 posts
Re: Free software scares normal people
#2[dead]
Re: Free software scares normal people
#3i enjoyed your post, those remotes are too funny!!
Re: Free software scares normal people
#4Some reasons for this:
1. Free software is developed for the developer's own needs and developers are going to be power users.
2. The cost to expose options is low so from the developer's perspective it's low effort to add high value (perceiving the options as valuable).
3. The developer doesn't know who the customer is and rather than research/refine just tries to hit all the boxes.
4. The distribution of the software itself means anyone who successfully installs it themselves really is a power user and does like the options. Installing it for family and friends doesn't work.
Probably many other factors!
Re: Free software scares normal people
#5Some reasons for this: 1. Free software is developed for the developer's own needs and developers are going to be power users. 2. The cost to expose options is low so from the developer's perspective it's low effort to add high value (perceiving the options as valuable). 3. The developer doesn't know who the customer is and rather than research/refine just tries to hit all the boxes. 4. The distribution of the softwa…
It takes a lot of time and energy to refine and maintain a minimalistic interface. You are intentionally narrowing the audience. If you are an open source developer with limited time you probably aren't going to invest in that.
Re: Free software scares normal people
#6> 80% of the people only need 20% of the features. Hide the rest from them and you’ll make them more productive and happy. That’s really all it takes.
For those of you thinking (which 20%) following that article from the other day — this is where a good product sense and knowing which 80% of people you want to use it first. You could either tack on more stuff from there to appeal to the rest of the 20% of people, or you could launch another app/product/brand that appeals to another 80% of people. (e.g. shampoo for men, pens for women /s)
Re: Free software scares normal people
#7>> 80% of the people only need 20% of the features. Hide the rest from them and you’ll make them more productive and happy. That’s really all it takes.
One of the truest things I've read on HN. I've also tried to visit this concept with a small free image app I made (https://gerry7.itch.io/cool-banana). Did it for myself really, but thought others might find it useful too. Fed up with too many options.
Re: Free software scares normal people
#8*Software with UI designed for people who aren't the median user scares the median user
Therefore: If you want lots of users, design for the median user; if you don't, this doesn't apply to you
Re: Free software scares normal people
#9Some reasons for this: 1. Free software is developed for the developer's own needs and developers are going to be power users. 2. The cost to expose options is low so from the developer's perspective it's low effort to add high value (perceiving the options as valuable). 3. The developer doesn't know who the customer is and rather than research/refine just tries to hit all the boxes. 4. The distribution of the softwa…
It takes a lot of time and energy to refine and maintain a minimalistic interface. You are intentionally narrowing the audience. If you are an open source developer with limited time you probably aren't going to invest in that.
That’s one of the great things about the approach demonstrated in the post. The developers of Handbrake don’t need to invest any time or energy in a minimalist interface. They can continue to maintain their feature-rich software exactly as it is. Meanwhile, there is also a simple, easy front end available for people who need or want it.
Re: Free software scares normal people
#10Good article, but the reasoning is wrong. It isn't easy to make a simple interface in the same way that Pascal apologized for writing a long letter because he didn't have time to write a shorter one.
Implementing the UI for one exact use case is not much trouble, but figuring out what that use case is difficult. And defending that use case from the line of people who want "that + this little extra thing", or the "I just need ..." is difficult. It takes a single strong-willed defender, or some sort of onerous management structure, to prevent the interface from quickly devolving back into the million options or schizming into other projects.
Simply put, it is a desirable state, but an unstable one.