Linuxtopia: Software Quality

“Oftentimes,… the software industry produces programs of
such low quality that if the programs were any other product, they
would be refused by society. Why is it, then, that people will
pay outrageously high prices for less than perfect programs?”

“… there are solutions to this problem… I am speaking of a
very radical, hotly debated form of software: Open Source.”

“With little to no money being made off any given product, there
is no obligation to get the code working before it can be tested
properly. Also, much of the software released under the GPL
(General Public License, the License that sets the official rules
for how free software can be changed, etc.) is done by individuals,
not multi-million dollar companies. Companies producing massive
applications must always be concerned with deadlines, budgets, and
other aspects of business. When people program for the pure joy of
programming, few things can interrupt the production of quality
code.”

Complete
story.