On 10/6/2015 7:11 AM, Robert Green wrote:

Instead, its wide-eyed "look at this neat feature I added!" ("Mommy,
I made a poops!")

Yeow, you really have a thing for FOSS writers that's pretty hostile. Some
of the best software I have ever seen came from 17 year old FOSS developers.

No, I'm disappointed in the efforts of my peers.

Talk to a "professional" software writer about the quality of
the code that he produces (number of bugs, lack of documentation,
stilted user interfaces, etc.) and he'll quickly blame it on
his boss/work environment:
- boss never gives us TIME to test things properly
- the bozos in Marketing that come up with these requirements are idiots
- the Sales folks who designed the interfaces listened to too many users
and didn't impose any consistency on their suggestions
- the documentation folks are all English-lit majors and completely
clueless as to technology
etc.

I.e., the *implication* is that, left to his/her own devices, you'd get
a MUCH better product! It's all the OTHER bozos on the bus that are
compromising HIS/HER product!

Then, when they are in an environment (FOSS) where there *are* no other
bozos *imposing* their will on their efforts, they produce the same crappy,
untested, undocumented, poorly defined code! And, when you call them
to task about it, they shrug and say, "No one was PAYING me for it,
so why should I do those things (that I don't WANT to do)?"

It's like looking at a house that a "professional" painter recently
finished painting and commenting on how sloppily he cut in the
trim around the windows, the fact that there is paint on the
glass, paint on the ground, the mismatch of colors on two adjacent
walls, etc. And, when questioning him, he replies "homeowner wanted
it done 'on the cheap' so I didn't bother with all the prep work,
cleanup, color matching, etc."

OK. But, then, when you visit him at his folks' house (or his own)
you notice the same slip-shod workmanship! But, now his "excuse" is
"I did the job for free; why should I bother with those annoying details
that take so much time to do properly?"

I.e., you've got an opportunity to *shine*; to create something
with no "arbitrary" constraints beyond what your own abilities
impose. And, instead of rising to that occasion, you *sink* to
your typical level of performance.