Free Software That’s Trouble-free

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My latest Times Online article is about the state of usability in the Free Software world. It’s been a bit more than two weeks since the last one; the hiatus was caused by some personnel changes at The Times.

Perhaps “Trouble-Free Software” might have been a catchier title; but I don’t write those, and that’s with the benefit of hindsight. As always, comments and cluesticks welcome.

4 thoughts on “Free Software That’s Trouble-free”

  1. “The “15 pixels of fame” problem has been addressed in Firefox, for example, by allowing for extensions that can be downloaded and added to the search engine.”

    Did you mean to say “search engine” there?

  2. FP: Thanks for pointing that out. It seems to have been an editing change; I’ve emailed my editor to ask what happened. The original text of that paragraph was:

    The “15 pixels of fame” problem has been addressed, for example, in Firefox because the way it’s written makes it relatively easy to write, package and distribute extensions. Therefore, the pressure exerted to get particular niche features into the product has been removed. Web developers don’t mind installing an extra toolbar to get the features they need; those who require ad-blocking download an add-on (or add-off?).