Usability and open source software



Paper Title: Usability and open source software
Authored By:D.M. Nichols and M.B. Twidale
Number:10/02
Publisher:Department of Computer Science, The University of Waikato
Publication Date:2002
Pages:1-15
Abstract:Open source communities have successfully developed many pieces of software although most computer users only use proprietary applications. The usability of open source software is often regarded as one reason for this limited distribution. In this paper we review the existing evidence of the usability of open source software and discuss how the characteristics of open-source development influence usability. We describe how existing human-computer interaction techniques can be used to leverage distributed networked communities, of developers and users, to address issues of usability.


Show/Hide Record