5 ms·

How do you know they aren't giving anything in return?

by 1_player 5y ago

scrollaway 5y ago
You'd know if they were. Thus if you don't, they aren't.
- ozkatz 5y ago
  If they're paying for support or using RHEL (which employs many linux maintainers and contributors), how would I know?
  - scrollaway 5y ago
    Sounds like you wouldn't find out about their issue via a stackoverflow question then, but rather via the support channel they're paying for.
    - detaro 5y ago
      Especially for non-priority issues, community resources are often more effective than paid "support channels".
      - scrollaway 5y ago
        You're kinda answering your own question here aren't you?
        detaro 5y ago
        No. Paying for/supporting open projects makes sense for lots of reasons, just "I get to submit tiny questions" isn't usually one of them.
- detaro 5y ago
  You know the contributions of every Stack Overflow commenter and their employer? impressive, how do you do that?
  - deleted 5y ago
    [deleted]
  - scrollaway 5y ago
    Okay, riddle me this: I work in a restaurant. I hand a bill to my customers. They leave without paying. But actually, how do I know they haven't paid? Maybe they gave the restaurant money ahead of time when I wasn't around, or they paid secretly behind my back... Or they just haven't paid their bill and i don't need to dig into it further. i ask them. If they paid, they'll let me know. If they have, I'll know. If I don't know, they likely haven't. If they have anyway, they'll tell me.
    - detaro 5y ago
      When I go ask questions on Stack Overflow I don't usually go "btw I work for XYZ, we are maintainers of A/B/C and contribute to D/E/F/G/H", no, because it's not relevant. Even though the maintainers of Linux tools very likely use at least one of A-H.
      - scrollaway 5y ago
        You're completely missing the point of my post(s). If you're contributing back to the software somehow, you'll have a more direct line to the developers. I've worked around, with and in open source nearly two decades, I've never seen this not be the case for anyone whose contributions weren't insignificant. If your issue is anything but trivial, you'll be going through channels where it is in fact obvious you have contributed back. Not stack overflow. For this issue it absolutely applies. If you can prove to me that the original poster/company has significantly contributed to the utility in question, I'll buy you a pizza. Your choice of toppings.
        5y ago

How do you know they aren't giving anything in return?

scrollaway 5y ago

You'd know if they were. Thus if you don't, they aren't.

ozkatz 5y ago
If they're paying for support or using RHEL (which employs many linux maintainers and contributors), how would I know?
- scrollaway 5y ago
  Sounds like you wouldn't find out about their issue via a stackoverflow question then, but rather via the support channel they're paying for.
  - detaro 5y ago
    Especially for non-priority issues, community resources are often more effective than paid "support channels".
    - scrollaway 5y ago
      You're kinda answering your own question here aren't you?
      - detaro 5y ago
        No. Paying for/supporting open projects makes sense for lots of reasons, just "I get to submit tiny questions" isn't usually one of them.
detaro 5y ago
You know the contributions of every Stack Overflow commenter and their employer? impressive, how do you do that?
- deleted 5y ago
  [deleted]
- scrollaway 5y ago
  Okay, riddle me this: I work in a restaurant. I hand a bill to my customers. They leave without paying. But actually, how do I know they haven't paid? Maybe they gave the restaurant money ahead of time when I wasn't around, or they paid secretly behind my back... Or they just haven't paid their bill and i don't need to dig into it further. i ask them. If they paid, they'll let me know. If they have, I'll know. If I don't know, they likely haven't. If they have anyway, they'll tell me.
  - detaro 5y ago
    When I go ask questions on Stack Overflow I don't usually go "btw I work for XYZ, we are maintainers of A/B/C and contribute to D/E/F/G/H", no, because it's not relevant. Even though the maintainers of Linux tools very likely use at least one of A-H.
    - scrollaway 5y ago
      You're completely missing the point of my post(s). If you're contributing back to the software somehow, you'll have a more direct line to the developers. I've worked around, with and in open source nearly two decades, I've never seen this not be the case for anyone whose contributions weren't insignificant. If your issue is anything but trivial, you'll be going through channels where it is in fact obvious you have contributed back. Not stack overflow. For this issue it absolutely applies. If you can prove to me that the original poster/company has significantly contributed to the utility in question, I'll buy you a pizza. Your choice of toppings.
      - 5y ago