My pet theory of how great software gets started
The theory discusses how exceptional software emerges from passionate communities. Power users delve into software beyond practicality, inspiring hackers to create innovative solutions, shifting software from tools to passionate creations.
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The author presents a theory on how great software originates within various communities and subcultures. He observes that within these groups, there is a subset of power users who are deeply interested in the software itself rather than just its practical applications. Beyond them, a small group of hackers emerges, who envision the software's potential at its best and create something entirely new from it. This process is described as the starting point for truly exceptional software development. The theory highlights the evolution of software from being a tool for efficiency to becoming an end in itself, driven by passionate individuals within different scenes and sub-scenes.
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5 commentsI only say that to say: I think the actual conclusion I'd draw from the idea this post puts forward is, well, two things: First, that the best software is software built by its biggest and most zealous users; software built for other people exclusively is never, never good. Second, that the best software has features no one is asking for, the "I've got a feeling we'll want to be able to sort on that table" kind of features, some people would call this quality Good Taste.
The process which produces most software the world uses seems almost intentionally designed to throw both those conclusions to the curb. That, to me, explains almost all of why software quality has nosde-dived over the past 10 years. Its the old story about how the designers and product managers on the Windows team at Microsoft all use Macs.
While insufficient, the major point here I think is essentially correct. Or at least the converse/inverse, one of those words is: Which is: No great software is made without someone having a lot of love somewhere in the beginning.
Taylor Otwell, Laravel framework creator, is still the only person merging all PRs (4771 as of now).
He became rich and still does it every single day.
Like the article stated, for him, it's probably no longer just a means to an end, but an end in itself.
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