I don't think open source is the particular answer to the problem you state, I think it's an orthogonal issue.
If you have millions of users who want to ask questions (think of supporting Microsoft Office), then direct access to developers is a non-starter.
What I have seen work are rotation programs where developers spend some time as first-line support (maybe 1 week per year). When doing so, they help educate the rest of the support staff, and they get great exposure to real users facing real problems.
> What I have seen work are rotation programs where developers spend some time as first-line support (maybe 1 week per year). When doing so, they help educate the rest of the support staff, and they get great exposure to real users facing real problems.
This skirts the real issue, though, which is that the person you get on the line should have the power to fix your problem. Putting developers on first-line support would only help if they were still developers while they worked there, with all the same access privileges and tools available to them.
One of the reasons often cited for the structure that existed was 'it would distract developers working on the product from meeting the deliverables'.
There is a role for support on a complex product where user errors often are the reason for tech support calls.
However, If you have a problem that requires code fixes, I cannot imagine having to deal with a long line of people who have no power to make those changes.
If you have millions of users who want to ask questions (think of supporting Microsoft Office), then direct access to developers is a non-starter.
What I have seen work are rotation programs where developers spend some time as first-line support (maybe 1 week per year). When doing so, they help educate the rest of the support staff, and they get great exposure to real users facing real problems.