Spray-On Usability
by Volker Weber
John Gruber makes a good case against usability in open source software projects:
The open source revolution has done nothing to change the fact that the best-designed, most-intuitive user interfaces are found in closed-source commercial software.
I’m not saying all commercial software is well-designed, nor that all free software is poorly-designed — what I’m saying is that software that does provide a well-designed, intuitive interface tends to be closed and commercial. The bigger the software, the more likely this is to be true.
I consider this essential reading for anybody who believes that the Linux desktop is not good enough. I am not ready to agree with him that open software is doomed UI-wise. But I concur that a whole lot of attitude adjustment is overdue.