I agree.
But there is one difference between watching a crappy TV show and playing a crappy Video Game:
You are actively engaged in playing the game. No matter how trivial it is.
Of course, if you pick a more challenging game, like an RPG/Puzzle, then the difference grows greater.
I also agree that it is more fulfilling to create something.
Which is the reason why I myself like to create ...
This is an Open Source and self-hosted alternative to Disqus.
It is not a product.
And, as such: doesn't need to market itself.
Use it if you want to. Or not.
I wanted to use it, but couldn't make it run - I am not a Python guy, so I went for HashOver (PHP) instead.
Not because HashOver is better, it's not, but because I need to be able to modify/fix the software, and I know PHP better than Python.
But I still believe that Isso is the best self-hosted and open source Disqus alternative in existence.
Ubuntu - Canonical in general - is not a good representative of "Open Source".
They don't contribute back to Debian, don't cooperate with the Gnome project (Unity?), and there are other options out there.
They are good at marketing, though. Ubuntu feels like a wonky OSX clone..
What really annoys me is that they have made people in general think of Linux as "Ubuntu".
There are other options. :)
I am a happy Debian KDE/lxQt user not using *untu. :)
20 years ago, RAD meant that you could drop visual components on a form, add some events, set some properties, and hit the green run button to compile and run it.
A very visual way of programming.
QtCreator with it's visual designer comes close, but then you have to suffer a more unforgiving syntax (C++), a complex macro compiler (MOC) and not at all easy cross-compilation / distribution.
I am actively using Lazarus. It is not split into anything other than Free Pascal (the language) and Lazarus (IDE and visual component library).
Don't blame the forks, mods and spin offs on Lazarus / Free Pascal.
It is a sign that the project is alive and doing well, IMO.
The looks?
It looks like any other Qt / GTK 2/3 application. Fairly modern.
But I agree with you on some of the points - but the part that I like the best is the fact that it's fully open source. It's really nice to be able to look at the source to everything when developing your own applications.
Yes, the site itself, including the docs, looks dated and does a poor job of selling it.
That's Open Source, the good and the bad.
Edit:
The project does have a (mandatory these days, I reckon) Github mirror, if that would make you more happy. :)
Lazarus and Free Pascal has made me return to the wonderful world of RAD and Object Pascal. :)
I was a Delphi addict in the 90's.
After Borland screwed up Delphi - including the Kylix disaster - and since I am now a full time Linux user - Lazarus is the only option.
I have been following the Lazarus / Free Pascal project for years, and I think now is a good time to pick it up.
Same as what happened with MySQL -> MariaDB.