The Software Is Wrong, Not the People

š **Source:** [The Software Is Wrong, Not the People](https://joeflood.com/2011/07/13/the-software-is-wrong-not-the-people/)
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> The Software is Wrong, Not the People
> It was a small moment at the WordPress DC Meetup. One of the creators of WordPress, Matt Mullenweg, was in town. He had come to this monthly meeting at Fathom Creative to learn what the local community wanted in the next version of his web publishing software. The media library in WordPress was discussed. Mullenweg ⦠Continue reading "The Software is Wrong, Not the People"
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> ā ā It was a small moment at the WordPress DC Meetup. One of the creators of WordPress, Matt Mullenweg, was in town. He had come to this monthly meeting at Fathom Creative to learn what the local community wanted in the next version of his web publishing software.
>
> The media library in WordPress was discussed. Mullenweg admitted that it is confusing and gets difficult to manage once you have lots of images in the library. A man in the audience brought up a technical issue he had with the library. Mullenweg explained that you could actually do what the man wanted to in WordPress but stated:
>
> This is a revolutionary statement. Mullenweg could have just told the man that āyouāre doing it wrongā before telling him the ārightā way to work with WordPress. Instead, the fact that users had problems with the media library told him that the software needed to be improved.
>
> Itās a contrary notion. We all adapt to clunky and ever-changing software, relearning the basic tasks needed to accomplish our work ā whereād they move the print button?
>
> And we cope with this increasing complexity without complaint. Because no one wants to look stupid. You canāt figure out the ribbon in Microsoft Word? You must be the idiot, not the software.ā ā
>
> This is especially true in the world of content management systems for web sites. Iāve worked on large-scale web sites for more than a dozen years as a web editor, producer and site manager. I remember when we did things in HTML. I have fond memories for Claris HomePage. Compared to the complexity of managing a large site in Dreamweaver, a CMS seemed like a brilliant idea.
>
> Be careful what you wish for. Over time, Iāve had the fortune/misfortune to use nearly every major CMS out there.
>
> The simple publishing tools that we used back in the 90s āevolvedā into massively complex structures requiring expensive experts to install and administer. CMS like SharePoint, Vignette and Percussion are punishing experiences for the user, turning the joyous task of writing into a machine-led death march. You enter your content and then engage in a series of database programming tasks, with the hope that at the end of it, if everything goes well, your article will appear in the correct format on the web site at the next publishing cycle.
>
> Itās no wonder that thereās so much bad writing online when the publishing tools are so lousy.
>
> WordPress is different. Being open-source, and closely tied to the community (would Steve Ballmer listen to your feedback?), it has a different philosophy ā āThe software is wrong, not the people.ā
>
> Of course, itās not perfect ā the media library definitely needs some work ā but itās easy to use and adaptable. WordPress now powers more than 50 million web sites.
>
> And, most importantly of all, itās software that people want to use. No one feels passionate about SharePoint. But they do about WordPress. This enthusiasm will lead to its greater adoption. Over time, the users will prevail.
>
> Joe Flood is a writer, photographer and web person from Washington, DC. The author of several novels, Joe won the City Paper Fiction Competition in 2020. In his free time, he enjoys wandering about the city taking photos. View all posts by Joe Flood
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> It was a small moment at the WordPress DC Meetup. One of the creators of WordPress, Matt Mullenweg, was in town. He had come to this monthly meeting at Fathom Creative to learn what the local community wanted in the next version of his web publishing software.
> The media library in WordPress was discussed. Mullenweg admitted that it is confusing and gets difficult to manage once you have lots of images in the library. A man in the audience brought up a technical issue he had with the library. Mullenweg explained that you could actually do what the man wanted to in WordPress but stated:
> This is a revolutionary statement. Mullenweg could have just told the man that āyouāre doing it wrongā before telling him the ārightā way to work with WordPress. Instead, the fact that users had problems with the media library told him that the software needed to be improved.
> Itās a contrary notion. We all adapt to clunky and ever-changing software, relearning the basic tasks needed to accomplish our work ā whereād they move the print button?
> And we cope with this increasing complexity without complaint. Because no one wants to look stupid. You canāt figure out the ribbon in Microsoft Word? You must be the idiot, not the software.
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š **Full text:** ![[Full Document Contents/Articles/The Software Is Wrong, Not the People|The Software Is Wrong, Not the People, Joe Flood]]
## Highlights
- It was a small moment at the [WordPress DC Meetup](http://www.meetup.com/wordpressdc/). One of the creators of WordPress, Matt Mullenweg, was in town. He had come to this monthly meeting at Fathom Creative to learn what the local community wanted in the next version of his web publishing software.
The media library in WordPress was discussed. Mullenweg admitted that it is confusing and gets difficult to manage once you have lots of images in the library. A man in the audience brought up a technical issue he had with the library. Mullenweg explained that you could actually do what the man wanted to in WordPress but stated:
This is a revolutionary statement. Mullenweg could have just told the man that āyouāre doing it wrongā before telling him the ārightā way to work with WordPress. Instead, the fact that users had problems with the media library told him that the software needed to be improved.
Itās a contrary notion. We all adapt to clunky and ever-changing software, relearning the basic tasks needed to accomplish our work ā whereād they move the print button?
And we cope with this increasing complexity without complaint. Because no one wants to look stupid. You canāt figure out the ribbon in Microsoft Word? You must be the idiot, not the software. ([View Highlight](https://read.readwise.io/read/01jt1vpsbdanhehvdfgc9f4pq9))