People who understand .Net apply here

Excuse the mess

Nick Whittome - "The Naked MVP" — Wed, 25 Apr 2007 09:15:16 GMT

In an attempt to sort out the msmvps.com site, I spent last night cleaning out the databases (over 9gb

re: People who understand .Net apply here

Tim Long — Tue, 24 Apr 2007 16:40:36 GMT

I think you've put your finger on the achillies' heel of Community Server - in fact, open source software in general. Until recently there was no documentation at all covering installation and administration. Now there is a wiki, but it still leaves a lot to be desired. It took me a good year and and least two major versions of using CS before I was really comfortable with the administration. Developers of this kind of product just assume that end users will have the same realm of understanding that they have. That just isn't the case. Even as someone familiar with .Net development, ASP.Net is a specialization within that and it was still hard for me to get to grips with it.

re: People who understand .Net apply here

Evan Anderson — Tue, 24 Apr 2007 14:50:59 GMT

Having access to source code is only marginally useful. Having access to source code licensed in a manner that allows you to hire any qualified party you choose (lowest bidder, fastest turnaround time, best references, etc) to work on that code is wonderful.

"Open source" has no clear cut definition. To me, "open source" means what I said above, and in that marketplace, competition is fostered between software service providers. (I could go on and on about how the software industry has deluded itself into thinking it's some kind manufacturing industry, instead of the service industry that it clearly is, but I won't go there in this comment... *smile*)

Anyone who thinks that "open source" is about end user Customers reading / servicing the source code is missing the point. Likewise to people who think that the point of "open source" is to get software for no cost.

Yes, enthusiast end users may be into reading the code, but the real value, to business, comes from being in control of your "own destiny", and having the freedom to make choices about when a program is no longer "supported" yourself-- not at the whim of the "owner" of the source code. The up-front expense of acquiring licenses for software, to a business, pales in comparison to the total cost of ownership (support services, training, process development, "soft" costs), and evaluating software ("open source" or not) on up-front cost is short-sighted.

Vlad Mazek - Vladville Blog » Blog Archive » Strange Monday & Goings On

Vlad Mazek - Vladville Blog » Blog Archive » Strange Monday & Goings On — Tue, 24 Apr 2007 05:13:17 GMT

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