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.

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