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websiteapi 3 days ago

why would a great UX be tied to the source being open or not?

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haunter 3 days ago | parent [-]

Because if you don’t like the UX you just edit the source code yourself and make it better /s

/s but I wish it wasn’t because a lot of FOSS evangelists have this mindset (here on HN too)

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fwip 3 days ago | parent [-]

More seriously - open source software is resistant to enshittification. It's obviously not a panacea, but the possibility of forks (or just the user deciding not to update), combined with the difference in profit motive, tends to result in software that respects the user.

(Taken holistically, the UX of software does not just mean the UI, or the moments when you are using the software. It also includes the stability of the software over time, including whether or not you are able to reject new versions whether you do not like.)

	▲	drnick1 3 days ago \| parent [-]
		This. The only real risk with open source is that a (fairly niche) project is discontinued/abandoned, and you can't find binaries anymore for it anymore (and you don't have the skills to build it yourself). But this happens to proprietary software all the time (see killedbygoogle.com).