[Elecraft] Firmware development

[Rich NE1EE]

On 2020-11-26 21:47:-0700, David Gilbert wrote:
>"I can't think of one open source, community-based product that I'd want to hang my hat on, even if I do see some that I'd support.   I just don't see the professional depth in the general community."
>
>Presumably you're talking about the amature radio community because nonprofessional collaborative open source software development in general is alive and very well, but even so how about N1MM+, or even WSJT-X and derivatives?

It's a matter of perspective. I don't use N1MM or WSJT-X, so can't comment. I have heard the same criticisms levied against these products, yet they are widely used.

A product can be poorly developed (code, which most users don't get to see), and poorly documented (users learn from fora and talking with others), and still be widely used, because they are the best we have, not because they could be better.

I do use other popular ham-related software, and I regularly report bugs to the developers, many of whom are friendly and easy to work with.

We all bring different life experiences to the table, and those experience shape our expectations. I think that many of these discussions are necessary, though perhaps more useful elsewhere. "More useful elsewhere" doesn't mean useless here. We have reached a point were we are not comfortable putting criticisms on the table, but polite critiquing is a vital element of growth.