(un) timely reflections

Following the example of the fruit trade, the familiar Bananenprizip is in the software industry: the half-finished goods to deliver as quickly as possible, the product matures, with subsequent updates to the customer. Now, the optimists, with the advent of open source development model is expected to provide open source software and a dedicated community around it that the software has fewer bugs in the future - and if any are found, they can immediately eliminate someone.

In the meantime, however, have also identified other advantages of this principle for themselves - by cynical profiteers to naive IT manufacturers are now using many of the positive open-source image as a marketing assistance.

The Cisco subsidiary Linksys for example, has devised an ingenious form of open-source "support" as I had to experience as the owner of the Linux-based Netwerkspeicher Appliance NSLU2.

Actually, I had been looking for a way to integrate easily and USB drives without a server in my home network. But the device has enpuppt as a permanent nuisance. The browser-based configuration software is even for an IT-affine people like me, very complicated, especially the user management and permissions pose numerous pitfalls. Apart from that, the device crashed every few days ( "Linux never crashes' ... ;-), so that periodically blocked access to the central home was hard.

Of course, I have made myself quickly on the search for a firmware update, but here Linksys has long been nothing more done - the latest is already more than 1 1 / 2 years old.

Is not strictly true, because the manufacturer has placed the maintenance of the software into the hands of "community": in fact, as Linksys has generous open-source supporters by focusing on its download page under the heading "GPL code" firmware offers several alternatives that were created by independent developers.

In this way, the term banana software takes on a whole new meaning: In the old understanding of the manufacturer to the customer was always the onus in the form nachgeschoben updates will now be responsible for delivery and pick-up passed on to customers. At the hobbyists among the people responsible for the shared source code of the appliance falls bitteschön further develop the non-programmers can make their search for a suitable upgrade. And the manufacturer is well out, since he puts on open standards and open source scene, it turns a beautiful playground available Swimming.

In the case of the NSLU2 it meant to me, from the user point of view, however, only anger. First I had to look from a variety of available GPL hotfix provides a pick hopefully useful, with the offered package (TAR will archive) and the update process handle even techies. The bugs seem rough with my chosen option to be effectively eliminated, the functionality was minimally dilated (Can now telnet too!), But the lousy user guidance has not changed.

For average people who are looking for a maintenance Netzwerkfestlplatte, this represents zweifenhafte outsourcing model of the manufacturer but simply an imposition dar. Hopefully finds no imitators.