I just read that WordPress is holding a design challenge for a brush-up of the current administration administration interface for the upcoming version 2.8. Here’s an mockup of what they’re looking for in a new design:
I am very happy with the WordPress 2.7 interface, and I am even happier that it is going to be polished and made even better with 2.8.
Unfortunately, entrants to the challenge must be based on the .psd file by Matt Thomas, which in their own words is because:
We’re providing Matt’s .psd file for you to work from. Please do not create your own file and submit that, since if your design is chosen but your file isn’t in the right format, we won’t have time to let you fix it. Just edit over the layers.
The problem? .psd is the proprietary format of Adobe Photoshop, which is a proprietary program that costs hundreds of dollars that also only runs on other proprietary operating systems.
So because I choose to use free software for my day-to-day tasks which is morally better and technically superior (SVG is much better for such mockups), I and hundreds of other WordPress contributors would be unable to submit my designs for the competition because of the simple fact that they choose to be locked into a proprietary format.
Photoshop may be the most widely used mockup program among web designers out there. So what? It requires you to step into a world of proprietary non-free software that has ideals directly contrary to that which enabled WordPress to flourish in the first place, and expend hundreds of dollars that is simply unnecessary.
I don’t mean anything personal to anybody — at Automattic or Adobe — I just thought the folks at Automattic were into this whole open source thing.
Do not alienate the community that gives you your very existence.
The solution? Don’t just accept open formats created by free software; actively encourage their use — hire someone who knows how to use them.
