this post was submitted on 29 Aug 2023
9 points (100.0% liked)

Open Source

31024 readers
916 users here now

All about open source! Feel free to ask questions, and share news, and interesting stuff!

Useful Links

Rules

Related Communities

Community icon from opensource.org, but we are not affiliated with them.

founded 5 years ago
MODERATORS
 

I'm not complaining, but I didn't realize how much work it was. It makes me really respect the people who do it on a regular basis.

For example:

  • You know how to use your software, but other people don't. So you need to write documentation.
  • You can just modify the source files, but it's impractical for everyone to do that. So you need to add a config file.
  • You can just drag the output files into place, but that's impractical for everyone to do. So you need to package it.
  • You trust yourself, but distro maintainers rightfully don't. So you need to package your source code and configure the package to compile it.
  • You will abide by your idea of how the software should be used, but other people might not. So you need to pick a license.

Sometimes I think there must be an easier way, but I can't think of any. I guess it probably gets easier with experience.

you are viewing a single comment's thread
view the rest of the comments
[–] [email protected] 1 points 1 year ago* (last edited 1 year ago) (2 children)

That's why engineers are, on average, paid more than researchers... And why research is such a nicer job.

Create robust and easy-to-use stuff is tough and you don't get much reward

[–] [email protected] 1 points 1 year ago* (last edited 1 year ago) (1 children)

I've been attempting to build systems to make this "robustness" redundant across all my works, but I always feel there's something more that I missed. I can't tell if this task is simply never-ending or I just lack the knowledge of covering all the dots from the get-go or both.

[–] [email protected] 1 points 7 months ago

Those are signs of an ever evolving/improving mind! You continue to perfect your craft and as such your older self is less efficient, perfect and organised.