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That's entirely natural.

Hobbyist developers develop software because it solves a need they have first, and they have fun doing that. If they don't have any fun or interest to do it, they lose motivation. Hobbyist developers are the primary users of the app they develop usually.

Commercial FOSS developers do have to take users into account and I think they do but they also have to seek profit.

I don't think there is another way unless government starts employing developers to develop FOSS software based on tax payers wishes.



I don't really disagree with anything you're saying, but it's all just another way of saying "Yes, FOSS is also not user-focused." I'm not saying FOSS is "supposed" to be anything else, I'm just saying that if you want user-focused software, you won't really get it by switching from profit-driven software to FOSS. You might get closer in some ways and further in others.

Government employing developers would be just another form of doing it for pay. There is another way, which is the same way that various other kinds of charitable things happen: through a desire to meet the needs of others rather than having "fun" or "interest" for the person doing the action. There are people who donate their time and energy to do things like give food to the homeless, clean up trash, or whatever. Obviously they derive some kind of satisfaction from it but I think many people who do these kinds of things wouldn't say they do it because it's "fun"; they do it because they think it meets a need that other people have. There could be software like that, but there isn't much of it.


> but there isn't much of it.

The same way there isn't much people giving food to the homeless or clean up trash compared to the general population size.

You are looking for a unicorn imho. Having said that hobbyist developers, regardless if they do FOSS or freeware, are likely to make stuff that is in line with your particular needs because more often than not people have common needs. They may not agree or have time to implement every single feature you want but in a sense this is use-focused if not user-focused.




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