No, it doesn't. It means looking through the source code and being able to submit bugs. The latter is very important if you want to create good software. You WILL need people to test it before it is released. But that's not all you do as an observer. You can also submit patches, help with translations, documentations, etc pp. Saying an observer would be just sitting there citicizing is very silly. Apropos silly, cvs.limewire.org has a guest account, you don't have to become an "observer" to get it. It's available to the public. - That's why it's called open-source, you know...