[PD] segmented patchcords (was Re: PD & MAX)

[chris clepper]

If I were running a commercial software firm and software made by random
people in their spare time compared pretty well with my pricey software, I
would be a little concerned.

On Dec 6, 2007 1:08 PM, Kyle Klipowicz <kyleklip at gmail.com> wrote:

> And this is precisely the unfortunate reason why the open source world
> will (almost) always lag behind the commercial world of consumer
> software. When developers make their bread and butter based upon if
> the consumer buys, they're more likely to pay attention to and
> implement the wishes of their users. Take Ableton. They actively parse
> their online forums for feature requests...and then implement them
> when a critical mass is reached.
>
> There are some exceptions in the FOSS world. Ubuntu is quite user
> friendly (with the support of a large endowment from a very wealthy
> organization with a charter specifically devoted to bringing Linux to
> the non-programmer set of the world). Firefox is giving IE a run for
> it's money (although the primary codebase from FF comes from the old
> commercial, closed source Netscape).
>
> I know that Hans' statement re everyone becoming a developer is true
> in theory, but in reality people who want to rapidly prototype a
> project with something like Pd or Max are using these applications
> precisely because they do not want to code in C.
>
> After reading Marius' post re GEM vs. Jitter, it is painfully apparent
> that the capitalist/consumer model of software engineering has a few
> aspects to it that are difficult for the FOSS community to compete
> with. Namely monetary and human resources and the external pressure to
> meet the requests of the user in order to ensure a continuous flow of
> financial support. When you code for a hobby or yourself, it is
> difficult or even impossible to be bothered with these things, and
> rightly so. Without compensation, there's often little scope (or time)
> outside one's own projects for developers in the FOSS world. This is
> unfortunate, but as I see it, true.
>
> Question is, what can be done to change this or compete? Or should Pd
> just become the thing that hobbyist programmers use, while Max takes
> the stage as the "serious" tool for rapidly prototyping interactive
> A/V artworks? I hope that this is not the case...
>
> No flames meant in this mail, just compassionate thought-mulling.
>
> ~Kyle
>
>
>
-------------- next part --------------
An HTML attachment was scrubbed...
URL: <http://lists.puredata.info/pipermail/pd-list/attachments/20071206/a973deba/attachment.htm>