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Have watched from close quarters how some friends have experienced burnout trying to make a living off their OSS projects. The projects in question are fairly p
by dman 6y ago
Have watched from close quarters how some friends have experienced burnout trying to make a living off their OSS projects. The projects in question are fairly popular and in broad use by large corporations but efforts to monetize were ultimately unsuccessful.
- fierarul 6y agoSadly, so true. Making money from open source is somewhere between the Hollywood aspiring actress and the fool's gold level of wishful thinking.
- supportlocal4h 6y agoI see this as largely not a problem with OSS per se. It just happens that a lot of people have expectations around software that they don't have elsewhere. For instance, let's say that I have this very clever idea that would improve on the good old-fashioned shovel. I could try to monetize this idea, but probably wouldn't have much success. Now, if I could figure out how to apply the idea to a grader or bulldozer or boring machine, I might have more success. My best chance might be if I happen to already own an equipment manufacturer. But to create a new manufacturing company just to produce my new-fangled backhoe is a daunting task. And it turns out my one idea isn't enough. My backhoe needs hydraulics, power, tires, and a bunch of other stuff. Most people wouldn't expect to be able to quit their day job to focus on a new shovel idea. But they somehow think that people should line up to fund a new web framework. Or a novel NoSQL approach. It's hard to monetize any idea. This is not limited to OSS.
- fierarul 6y agoNote that software is not an abstract idea, it's an idea manifested. And, really, people can still have a business selling cookies. But open source is unique in providing projects with many users, including commercial entities, that still leave the author in abject poverty.