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Free software scares normal people

(danieldelaney.net)
917 points cryptophreak | 2 comments | 30 Oct 25 15:07 UTC | HN request time: 0s | source
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jasonthorsness ◴[30 Oct 25 15:33 UTC] No.45761160[source]▶
Some reasons for this:

1. Free software is developed for the developer's own needs and developers are going to be power users.

2. The cost to expose options is low so from the developer's perspective it's low effort to add high value (perceiving the options as valuable).

3. The developer doesn't know who the customer is and rather than research/refine just tries to hit all the boxes.

4. The distribution of the software itself means anyone who successfully installs it themselves really is a power user and does like the options. Installing it for family and friends doesn't work.

Probably many other factors!

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doug_durham ◴[30 Oct 25 16:01 UTC] No.45761513[source]▶
It takes a lot of time and energy to refine and maintain a minimalistic interface. You are intentionally narrowing the audience. If you are an open source developer with limited time you probably aren't going to invest in that.
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1. cryptophreak ◴[30 Oct 25 16:12 UTC] No.45761636[source]▶
That’s one of the great things about the approach demonstrated in the post. The developers of Handbrake don’t need to invest any time or energy in a minimalist interface. They can continue to maintain their feature-rich software exactly as it is. Meanwhile, there is also a simple, easy front end available for people who need or want it.
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2. techblueberry ◴[31 Oct 25 16:31 UTC] No.45773904[source]▶
I think There’s a survivorship problem though. This software needs to be marketed and maintained to stay in the zeitgeist. It would have to compete with competitors that do more than just the simple things.

I think it’s essentially survivorship bias. The simple applications don’t get traction and later get abandoned.