First of all, I’m not in SV, and you couldn’t make me move there even with a gun to my head.
Second, the interface is hard to use. Technology is a tool, and the interface is the part we interact with. If a tool is hard to use, then I’m probably not going to use it. I suffer enough with crappy technology at work; I don’t need it at home too.
And yes, it’s FOSS, and I don’t have to use it. But that doesn’t mean it’s above reproach.
Am I the only one who didn't find it hard to use? It's different, but it took all of one afternoon to figure it out 8 years ago. Despite only very occasionally using calibre, that learning session has persisted. I don't find myself getting lost in the UI or making mistakes.
Perhaps because I grew up in the DOS era where it was the norm for every application to be different? I find that as the years go by, the deviation required from the norm to be considered "bad UI" keeps shrinking.
I use Linux as my daily driver, so I’m no stranger to wonky interfaces (although thankfully, I spend a lot of time in a terminal). I consider myself a fairly learned software developer who knows their way around a computer, and it’s not that I can’t learn awkward interfaces. But Calibre makes it just difficult enough to figure out how to do what I want that I avoid it all together. Maybe this isn't your experience, but it’s mine.
Second, the interface is hard to use. Technology is a tool, and the interface is the part we interact with. If a tool is hard to use, then I’m probably not going to use it. I suffer enough with crappy technology at work; I don’t need it at home too.
And yes, it’s FOSS, and I don’t have to use it. But that doesn’t mean it’s above reproach.