No, you have missed my point (in fairness to you, I don't think I was all that clear ).robertmf wrote: n.b., "speed" in this context refers to how long it takes for product delivery, not speed as in execution. So, with your phpBB is (cheap) inexpensive to enduser, and high quality (good code), then it follows that you won't get the instant gratification of (fast) el rapido product delivery.
Plug a few $mil$ into phpBB6 and you'll get the good and the fast, but you will have lost the el cheapo
In terms of the project dependency triangle (cost, time, quality), it doesn't matter what the end user pays. It matters what the project costs. And phpBB, just because no one is paying money, still has costs: it costs the developers their time and effort. Currently, that has been fairly "low" cost (not wishing to minimize the developers' efforts, but considering the scope of the project, there are only a few part-time programmers, despite the fact that they work hard).
I'm fully aware that speed = time to project completion, and that was the sense in which I used the term. Since we have an inexpensive project (one plus), and a high-quality project (two plus), it is not possible to also have a short timeframe to completion. And the relationship between these things is at least somewhat proportional.