(no title)
s3000 | 3 years ago
>writing software for banks or insurance companies
Look at Gimp. It's the software that people like to write but not the one designers like to use.
There was this submission: 'Ask HN: How might HN build a social network together?' [1]. With Mastodon, people create a social network, but one that is unnecessarily inefficient. Why hasn't that submission led to a better social network?
Ford is quoted with saying: 'People would have asked for faster horses'.
How do you give the people with new ideas the power to implement them?
serverholic|3 years ago
It’s no wonder projects like GIMP don’t take off because these developers work on it in their spare time. They don’t have the time or energy to fully commit to it because they’re busy being forced to write someone else’s software.
Linux, for example, was built over the course of 8 years while Linus Torvalds was in college. He was able to do so because his college in Finland provided room and board and the freedom to pursue his interests alongside his studies.
s3000|3 years ago
This is interesting because you look at the situation from a different point of view. I was wondering how somebody can influence others to create change and you focus on how to remove influence to create change.
I believe that you can never supply enough resources for people to feel free to implement change. What are the basic needs that have to be met? I would like to say that they are already met. Every software developer can reduce their working hours to a minimum and have ample time to pursue whatever they want.
People are already empowered but they lack motivation. Compared to the global south, the north has plenty of resources. But most citizens don't invest them. Instead they spend them on vacations, clothing, cars and houses because they want to match their peers.
With that perspective, what could incentivize people whose basic needs are met, to spend their time on innovations?
yakshaving_jgt|3 years ago