+1<br><br>Well said.<br><br>Kind Regards,<br>Chris <br><br><div class="gmail_quote">On Tue, Jan 19, 2010 at 7:58 PM, Owen Leonard <span dir="ltr"><<a href="mailto:oleonard@myacpl.org">oleonard@myacpl.org</a>></span> wrote:<br>
<blockquote class="gmail_quote" style="border-left: 1px solid rgb(204, 204, 204); margin: 0pt 0pt 0pt 0.8ex; padding-left: 1ex;">Okay, get ready for a rant...<br>
<br>
> Sometimes "users" and "developers" are at opposite poles...<br>
<br>
When? I'm a Koha user. And in using Koha I saw that I could make Koha<br>
better, and in time became a Koha developer. There is no Koha<br>
developer out there who is developing Koha features just because they<br>
think it would be cool to do. Koha developers are doing their work<br>
because they *see* a need, in an actual user or an actual library. Or<br>
developers are getting paid by libraries to develop the features the<br>
libraries need.<br>
<br>
Here's when users and developers are at opposite poles:<br>
<br>
- When a company decides to develop a feature that they think will<br>
help sell a product, even though the feature doesn't meet any actual<br>
need<br>
- When a company throttles or cripples a feature in a product because<br>
they want to charge extra for a particular feature<br>
<br>
No self-respecting Koha developer or Koha support company is doing<br>
that kind of stuff. That's why we're here.<br>
<br>
> I think this is more about giving the "users" more of a voice than they've traditionally had in<br>
> the past, no?<br>
<br>
I honestly don't know where this comes from. The Koha project is just<br>
about as open and accessible as any software project can be. You can<br>
participate on the mailing list, you can submit bug reports yourself,<br>
you can submit your own patches or hire your own programmers to write<br>
code for you. You can talk to Koha developers on IRC almost 24 hours a<br>
day!<br>
<br>
The only way in which one might consider that users need "more of a<br>
voice" is if you think of it in terms of working collectively to<br>
achieve a goal that Koha libraries individually could not. If that's<br>
the intention of that statement then, rant over. I agree 100% that<br>
libraries should be seeking ways to pool their resources ($$) to get<br>
done the things they want done, i.e. hire developers or commission<br>
existing companies to do work for them.<br>
<br>
However, if by "more of a voice" you mean, "If we all get together an<br>
ask for a feature the Koha developers should implement it," then no.<br>
This is open source, but time is money. You can donate your time (as I<br>
do, every day, in code, markup, email, and IRC) or you can donate your<br>
money--in the form of paid development work.<br>
<br>
This doesn't shut anyone out. But yes, there is a bar that you have to<br>
clear. I don't know how else it can work.<br>
<br>
So: Let's get together as users and/or developers and figure out how<br>
we can get some stuff done. Let's put together a structure by which<br>
Koha users can spec out new features and get them funded,<br>
collectively. Let's put together a structure by which Koha users can<br>
communicate with their vendors without fear of exclusion or reprisal.<br>
Let's not talk about a users group breaking down some barrier that<br>
isn't really there--let's talk about strengthening and leveraging the<br>
connection that we *already have!*<br>
<br>
-- Owen<br>
<font color="#888888"><br>
--<br>
Web Developer<br>
Athens County Public Libraries<br>
<a href="http://www.myacpl.org" target="_blank">http://www.myacpl.org</a><br>
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