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I'm reading it thinking, "Hmm, do I really hate working for other people that much?" I've run my own companies since I was in my early 20s, and have never taken

I'm reading it thinking, "Hmm, do I really hate working for other people that much?" I've run my own companies since I was in my early 20s, and have never taken on more than contract work for others. But, I've very rarely been able to pay myself as much as even modest developer or IT salaries at big companies in major cities. But, that may mean I just need to stop trying to make a living out of Open Source software. ~20 years of it might be a sign it's time to try some other approach.

justinclift 11y ago
Maybe pick Open Source Software which people pay good money for skills in? :)
- SwellJoe 11y ago
  There's always that one person... I've done that, and my most personally profitable years were doing that, billing $125/hour the last year I did it (this was eleven years ago), and working slightly more often than I wanted to be. There was a lot of travel, as my particular specialty was something that was needed by companies with very large websites, but not by many others, which I suspect is gonna be true of most of the "which people pay good money for skills in" projects. Being a contractor has most of the same disadvantages of having a real job; maybe pays a little better, and maybe you work a little less because of it. But, it has some additional negatives that I found made me unhappy. I haven't gone back to contracting not because it isn't profitable, but because it isn't what I want to do. I want to build things, not merely install and configure software (even being really good at installing and configuring complicated software leaves something to be desired in the "job satisfaction" category). Anyway, I've been making my living on Open Source software for approaching 20 years, through two different companies, and a half dozen pivots and business models. I'm not making statements out of lack of knowledge of the topic.
  - justinclift 11y ago
    No worries at all. Wasn't sure where you were coming from. :)

justinclift 11y ago

Maybe pick Open Source Software which people pay good money for skills in? :)

SwellJoe 11y ago
There's always that one person... I've done that, and my most personally profitable years were doing that, billing $125/hour the last year I did it (this was eleven years ago), and working slightly more often than I wanted to be. There was a lot of travel, as my particular specialty was something that was needed by companies with very large websites, but not by many others, which I suspect is gonna be true of most of the "which people pay good money for skills in" projects. Being a contractor has most of the same disadvantages of having a real job; maybe pays a little better, and maybe you work a little less because of it. But, it has some additional negatives that I found made me unhappy. I haven't gone back to contracting not because it isn't profitable, but because it isn't what I want to do. I want to build things, not merely install and configure software (even being really good at installing and configuring complicated software leaves something to be desired in the "job satisfaction" category). Anyway, I've been making my living on Open Source software for approaching 20 years, through two different companies, and a half dozen pivots and business models. I'm not making statements out of lack of knowledge of the topic.
- justinclift 11y ago
  No worries at all. Wasn't sure where you were coming from. :)