Usability and Open Source Software
From Flossusability
Usability and Open Source Software
Thinking about open source software in terms of usability can become complicated because usability is an overused term and therefore no longer has a clear definition, and because we don't really know what the state of open source usability is. Saying open source software has usability problems is like saying the internet has usability problems. We just don't know because just as many websites are created by many people for many different purposes, so is open source software. We cannot compare open source software products to proprietary products because the maturity of each is different and comparing them at different levels of maturity is like saying a 12th grader is smarter than a 2nd grader. It just doesn't make sense.
As a beginning, we can think of usability in OSS environments as bringing user-centered design practices to such environments. How to do so and which practices make the most sense is yet to be determined. Usability in open source environments could evolve on its own like the "bazaar" characterized by Eric Raymond in The Cathedral and the Bazaar.
