Saturday, August 28, 2004

The "I want it now" syndrome

Have you ever worked in an Open Source project?
Then you probably know the folks that report a bug with "ultra critical" and "I need it yesterday". The bug report sometimes says "xxx doesn't work". When you then ask what doesn't work -- silence. Nothing. Or even flaming that one could have answered earlier.

I understand, that not everybody is able to fix things themselves. And I also understand that if you use a tool that stops working, it is very important to get it fixed at that moment.

But most people that work on Open Souce earn their living by doing other things, perhaps even having a second job in the evening. So you cannot expect them sitting behind the trouble ticket system all day long just waiting for that very urgent problem coming in.

If a tool has such a big value for you and your production chain, then get a support contract upfront or try to pay someone to help you when the problem arises. Some call that risk-management.

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