Some thoughts on Ubuntu Brainstorm
In my opinion, as a developer, listening once in a while to user input should be almost mandatory. It brings us back to Earth and reconnects us to the expectations of our users. It also gives us a glimpse of how they experience our work, something that as developers, we can’t sense. And that’s gold.
Ok wait, I know the drill, we are in the FOSS world, where the developers only do what they care/want to do. Right. We are already full of ideas, no need for more, and we don’t have time. Right. But still I would urge any developer who actually wants a successful software, to listen to their users once in a while. You’ll be astonished at how your view and their view of your work is different. (Hey, I say “listen to”, I do not say “do as they tell you”!)
But users are not giving their feedback for free : they want a counterpart. They want updates, they want to know what’s going on. That’s a fact, and that was with that in mind that the website was designed (Status on ideas, developer comment area). But reading some ideas, I’m amazed at how much some of them actually want back : Show where and when the Brainstorm idea has/will be implemented, Change the idea’ status when a Brainstorm administrator has read it,…
A nice “idea” to finish 
