4 ms·
Why should the companies pay more than $0 for code with a price tag of $0? Do you normally pay more than the asking price for things you buy?
by mbrodersen 5y ago
Why should the companies pay more than $0 for code with a price tag of $0? Do you normally pay more than the asking price for things you buy?
- MadcapJake 5y agoIt costs me $0 to walk to work but i pay for transportation because it gets me there faster and more comfortably. You just are looking at cost too narrowly.
- mbrodersen 5y agoI don't understand your argument at all. Companies and people in general only pay for things they have to pay for. So if you ask for $0 that is exactly what they will pay. It is not a difficult point I am making.
- MadcapJake 5y agoYou're making a simple point when this is a complex issue. Software costs more than just the price tag on the box.
- MadcapJake 5y agoLet's assume that I did decide to walk to work for $0. Even though the cost is free, I may have to pay for better walking shoes. Additionally, I may have to buy a umbrella to prevent getting rained on. I also may want to think about the safety and security of the streets that I walk down. And lastly, I may after some time walking, have a foot/leg injury that requires either medical attention or physical therapy. My point is that even though the cost was $0 up-front there is additional costs that show up because of my prior decision to walk. These indirect/future costs need to be considered especially as a business deciding to utilize OSS for some operational need. In a way, you should evaluate each OSS tool/library as if it was a business which further corroborates the blog post's point.
- abathur 5y agoNever tipped for good service?
- mbrodersen 5y agoI have. What's your point?
- dilyevsky 5y agoWhy would anyone pay for business class airline tickets instead of (subsidized) coach? They both get to the destination at the same time!
- mbrodersen 5y agoThat's a good question! However I am not sure what that has to do with what I am saying? People pay for over priced luxury goods all the time. There are psychological reasons for that (signaling wealth among other things).
- selfhoster11 5y agoThe point is that sometimes, profit isn't the only priority, so one may choose to pay even if they didn't have to.
- mbrodersen 5y agoMy point is that the evidence is in and clearly companies/people don't do that. And some OSS maintainers then get all upset and throw their toys around because people don't behave as they expect. My answer is: Grow up. Accept the world as it is. And act accordingly.
- dilyevsky 5y agoNot just psychological but convenience, reliability and status all of which can apply to oss consulting/patronage
- cxr 5y agoIf you look at the commenter's other messages, you seem very much to be making their point for them. The thing that they are advocating for is what you seem to be trying to, through snark, give them an education on. No one makes coach tickets available for free and then asks people to pay after the fact. Certainly no one would do that and then complain that the system is broken because nobody is paying. People, on the whole, do not behave in a way that's compatible with that kind of thing, and the expected outcome there matches the outcome that we see today with (un)-sustainable open source.