> I am not keen to maintain code and have to answer questions from every Tom, Dick and Harry This seems like the wrong attitude. Software development is about

> I am not keen to maintain code and have to answer questions from every Tom, Dick and Harry This seems like the wrong attitude. Software development is about writing and maintaining code. If you need to solve a problem that is not cleanly solved by an existing library, it's your job to write the code, maintain it, and help your co-workers use it. Remember, the people who wrote those open-source libraries are humans like you. They had enough confidence and experience to feel comfortable releasing their work to the world, but they are not super-geniuses. You can confirm this by looking at the source code of a typical open-source library :). Personally, I prefer to avoid third-party libraries that impose a lot of structure on my code. My ideal third-party library is one that implements a single, complicated function (or family of functions), like solving a linear system of equations. In these cases using the library is an obvious choice. In cases where the library (framework) forces you to change the architecture of your application, you should think deeply about whether or not it's worth it. I guess the overall message is: take ownership of your work.