2 ms·
In my nigh on 30 years of work, mostly using and writing open source, I have never been compensated for writing software. I have been compensated for solving pr
by mcguire 6y ago
In my nigh on 30 years of work, mostly using and writing open source, I have never been compensated for writing software. I have been compensated for solving problems. The fact that it involved writing software was irrelevant.
I would argue that compensating developers for building software is the wrong way to look at it. IBM (and possibly Red Hat?) are mostly consulting companies---the development work they pay for is in support of their consulting.
- dralley 6y ago>I would argue that compensating developers for building software is the wrong way to look at it. IBM (and possibly Red Hat?) are mostly consulting companies---the development work they pay for is in support of their consulting. Red Hat is not a consulting company. According to the Q1 FY2020 financial statements, "Subscription revenue in the quarter was 87% of total revenue." which means consulting is somewhere in that leftover 13% (categorized as "services"). What you perhaps mean, is that the number of kernel developers, gcc developers, glibc developers, (and so on) they have on staff is a benefit in terms of providing good support. In that sense, if a customer has an issue and need support, the "development work" does benefit the ability to provide that service. I wouldn't call that consulting though.