Lets face it. We are all different. We have different tastes and like different things. Wouldn’t it make sense that having choices would better please more people? In a recent article in the Linux Journal entitled “Separation of Church and Choice” the author made a case that choice alone is not a good reason to create software. While his article is churlish and bashes religion, it did make me think of an interesting question: Are too many choices in software bad?

The short answer is, of course not! I snicker when I hear about the supposed "tyranny of choice". Competition is good. The fact is that the strong will survive. The weak will adapt or find a small niche of supporters.

Having said that I see a case for cutting through the clutter. If you put together an integrated software system and plan to support it, then you will limit the number of supported choices. This makes fixing problems manageable. Also, provide a help system, e.g. a software wizard, to guide novice users by recommending common choices. It will keep them from becoming overwhelmed with new software.

Now, who wants some pie? What kind of pie?