There are many reasons to love Open Source Software. It’s free (as in you pay nothing), it’s free (as in speech) and – perhaps my favourite reasons – it’s free (as in liberating).
By liberating, I mean that one isn’t tied down to the product roadmap and release schedule of the developers. If I find a bug, not only can I report it, I can fix it myself. If I can’t fix it myself, I can often find someone to fix it for me.
Imagine writing to MicroSoft and saying “Please can you make this change to Office – just for me?” If you ever got a response, it would be “No”. To be fair, you may also get the same reply from OpenOffice – the free replacement for MicroSoft Office – but because OpenOffice is Open Source, you can scratch the itch yourself.
If your itch-scratching is useful, others will benefit from it. If you are the only one benefiting from it, so what? You’re happier and more productive.
I use WordPress Mobile Pack. It creates a mobile version of this blog. It’s a very easy to use and very powerful plugin.
Unfortunately, like all software, it has bugs.
WPMP Bug
What you’re seeing in the screenshot is WPMP picking up a shortcode and, rather than ignoring it, rendering it as human readable text within the teaser. It’s ugly and confusing.
So, I raised a bug report and though “I bet I can fix this!”. Now, I’m not the world’s most talented programmer – but with my knowledge of PHP and WordPress plugin architecture, I was able to locate the problem, fix it, test it and deploy it within half an hour.
if(strpos($content, '[')!==false)
{
$content = "Read more";
}That’s it. Judicouly applied in the correct place made my problems disappear.
So, that’s why I love Open Source. It places my destiny in my hands.
There are many reasons to love Open Source Software. It's free (as in you pay nothing), it's free (as in speech) and - perhaps my favourite reasons - it's free (as in liberating).By liberating, I mean that one isn't tied down to the product roadmap and release schedule of the developers. If I find a bug, not only can I report it, I can fix it myself. If I can't fix it myself, I can often find someone to fix it for me.Imagine writing to MicroSoft and saying "Please can you make this change to Office - just for me?" If you ever got a response, it would be "No". To be fair, you may also get the same reply from OpenOffice - the free replacement for MicroSoft Office - but because OpenOffice is Open Source, you can scratch the itch yourself.If your itch-scratching is useful, others will benefit from it. If you are the only one benefiting from it, so what? You're happier and more productive.I use WordPress Mobile Pack. It creates a mobile version of this blog. It's a very easy to use and very powerful plugin.Unfortunately, like all software, it has bugs.[caption id="attachment_1337" align="aligncenter" width="480" caption="WPMP Bug"][/caption]What you're seeing in the screenshot is WPMP picking up a shortcode and, rather than ignoring it, rendering it as human readable text within the teaser. It's ugly and confusing.So, I raised a bug report and though "I bet I can fix this!". Now, I'm not the world's most talented programmer - but with my knowledge of PHP and WordPress plugin architecture, I was able to locate the problem, fix it, test it and deploy it within half an hour.
if(strpos($content, '[')!==false)
{
$content = "Read more";
}
That's it. Judicouly applied in the correct place made my problems disappear.So, that's why I love Open Source. It places my destiny in my hands.
I wonder how many users of OpenOffice have the knowledge to code a fix for something they want, compile it etc.
I bet hardly any.
You’re more likely to get a response from Microsoft because they have a financial incentive to fix bugs etc
Hi Oli,
Some will have the knowledge, some won’t. It’s the same as saying “Yes, but how many drivers can change a tire / fix a spark plug / replace the engine?” You wouldn’t want a car that could *only* be fixed by the manufacturer, would you?
I’ve tried reporting bugs to MS. They have millions of customers, so a single complaint tends to get lost in the mix. Open Source projects tend to be smaller. The people who work on them aren’t doing it (just) for a pay cheque – they’re more emotionally involved in the project and more likely to respond to constructive criticism.
Thanks for the comment,
T