The <whatever> developer syndrome

Having found out that the word 'arrogant' doesn't translate very well into
other languages, my apologies to those that took it as an insult.  But, 
remember, I have said that I am arrogant.

However, the issue remains.  It was stated on the DOT:

> Suggesting to KDE developers how we should change our behaviour to
> better suit people who use our software for free is one of the most
> pompous and presumptuous acts I can imagine.

To me, this is the canonically correct and complete description of the 
'arrogant developer syndrome' or if you don't like that term, 'the 
<whatever> developer syndrome'.  Choose your own adjective to describe it.

My question is: what do we want the KDE project to be?

I want the project to succeed commercially -- the same way that Linux has.

I don't think that we can accomplish this if this is the prevailing 
attitude of the KDE development community.  We need to produce a better 
product and to do that we will probably need to change out behavior -- we 
will need to have more regard for the user.

The user needs to come first just as the customer needs to come first in 
the commercial world.  We can not say that just because this if free 
software that things are different because they aren't -- we have to 
compete in the same market place with commercial software.

--
JRT


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