Journal alternative_right's Journal: Why Open Source Documentation is So Bad

I'm putting this here mainly so I do not lose it. I have bookmarked a billion things and only looked up a million later. But this is a great riff on open source documentation:

In the realm of Open Source software development the adage "good enough" is often interpreted as this software is good enough for general use.

It should read "good enough for me", speaking only from the software author's perspective. ...Why are people supplying instructions that are way too complex for the new user? I know the answer to that question. It's rhetorical in nature.

"Because it's good enough for me"

It seems to me that all software needs to be focused on the user and their needs, without requiring much technical involvement. This is the reason for the success of Apple and Microsoft at least, and what has doomed FreeBSD to obscurity.

Good documentation and scripting of complex technical tasks can go a long way. Users use computers for purposes other than computer-focused stuff. Hobbyists mostly do computer-focused stuff. There needs to be a bridge there, at least in my own thinking.