some rants on open source work

[Klaus Lagally <lagally at informatik dot uni-stuttgart dot de>]

Hi all,

I followed your discussions since Arabeyes began, but Linux is not my 
field, so I did not, and cannot, contribute anything but my experience
with open source projects.

I started the ArabTeX project sometime around 1991 (it is concerned with
typesetting in the Arabic script and its extensions using the TeX system)
and I consider it successful. The system is publicly available on our 
server (ask me if you are interested, by personal EMail) and some mirrors. 
We had around 10000(!) downloads on the local server alone and 
NOT A SINGLE request for a printed manual, even at a nominal fee! 
I learned some lessons on the way.

Lesson one: people take anything that is free for granted.

Lesson two: hunters and gatheres abound. Downloads prove nothing.

Lesson three: there ARE serious users, and you can identify them by 
the fact that they stumble over bugs and complain. Forget the rest.
(Note: if there are too few bugs, you will never know your users :-)

Lesson four: you MIGHT get compliments, but no donations and no help.
(Note: you might get a complimentary copy of scientific work, if you
explicitly ask for it, and your wish is reasonable)

Conclusion: if you want something to happen, MAKE it happen and be
prepared to do EVERYTHING yourself. If you should get help, so the
better, but do not rely on it. Take your time, and try to get as much
fun and satisfaction from your work as possible; this is the best 
thing you can get! Also do not let anybody put a deadline on you!

Note: I did not want to sound too cynical, and I defiinitely did not 
want to talk you out of your project. On the contrary, I like the 
project, and since I feel some frustration with some members, I want 
to endorse your effort since I think it is worth it. I wish you well!

Sincerely

KL
-- 
Prof. Dr. Klaus Lagally  | mailto:lagally at informatik dot uni-stuttgart dot de
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