On producing quality, open source, accounting software

producing quality, open source, accounting software

Damian Conway's reply to this question is particularly significant for managing ec-g2:

JJ: There are those in the Open Source Community that point out that greed is not sufficient motivation to produce quality software, which is often the labor of love. How can Joe Programmer (not this Joe programmer) learn to love developing accounting applications?

DC: He or she can't. No more than you can make a COBOL programmer love hacking kernel. People sometimes offer me contracts writing DB interfaces or building websites, but I tell them I'm not worth what I'd charge to do that. Because I'd be doing it strictly for the (very large amount of) money, rather than for love of the project. They wouldn't get my best.

Whatever software your trying to build, you need people who are inspired by the idea of that software. Even if they aren't virtuoso hackers: you can always teach a person to code better, or tidy their code after it's written; you can never teach a person to love your project. And without that emotional engagement, you'll never get the superhuman effort that's required to produce quality software.