[axod]

Why? If I'm designing a new table I want to make out of wood, should I go find someone elses designs, ready made legs etc and use them?

I'll write my own if I want to thanks.

The 'mess' is relying so much on 3rd party libs in the first place, without completely understanding them.

Write something, and learn massive amounts in the process.

[PhilChristensen]

If there is honestly nothing that does what you need, fine.

I'm just saying the NIH-syndrome is a big problem for the FOSS community, and leads to the fracturing of attention. Far too many talk a big talk about how collaboration is the key to FOSS ('a million eyeballs', etc), but then turn around and start their own project in solitude. Sure you can learn massive amounts -- but how much of that time is spent making the same mistakes someone else already made?

I'm comfortable with telling a programmer "NO! Don't write your own," because I know if s/he really wants to, nothing I say will change that. The value of getting them to stop for a minute to think if it's necessary is worth it.

Any competent programmer can write their own X. But it takes a master to help someone else's X succeed.

[axod]

>> "But it takes a master to help someone else's X succeed."

I think it often takes more of a politician. Trying to satisfy hundreds of different users and use cases is often orders of magnitude more work than just writing something for your particular use case. Not to mention all the ideology/style/language wars/etc etc