> just how little research anyone actually did

More often I see the opposite. 100 page pdfs that fall apart in first contact with reality.

I think it’s not about research, but it’s very hard to contribute in a field you haven’t actually had a career in.

yeah i'd agree with you there with lack of experience. and that was definitely a thing at my place. i think it plays a part in the research stuff too. cos if without relevant experience a lot of bad assumptions get made.

"FOSS is universally unreliable" was one of such assumptions i had to push back against 5 years later. they meant academica produced software. but they assumed all foss is the same as all academica produced software.