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> but it does make it sound like unsupported software Pretty much every open source license contains a section along the lines of "there is absolutely no warra
by FooBarWidget 5y ago
> but it does make it sound like unsupported software
Pretty much every open source license contains a section along the lines of "there is absolutely no warranty". Older projects make this crystal clear in their readme. Newer, hipper projects don't, but that's only because they don't state it as explicitly.
Open source software is unsupported software unless you paid for a support contract. If you still get support despite not having paid for such a contract, then that support is an incidental gift that can go away at any time for any reason.
- deleted 5y ago[deleted]
- saagarjha 5y agoThere’s a difference between “please don’t ask for support” and “I’m happy to support you even though legally you can’t force me to support this”.
- TomasEkeli 5y agoi think those two actually collapse to the exact same thing: "no guaranteed support"
- saagarjha 5y agoCollapsing them misses the nuance that I am specifically talking about. It’s kind of like when the ice cream parlor down the street gives our free samples and you decide to go “well, actually, they don’t have to give you any samples because they can refuse service to anyone so in fact there is no difference in them providing free samples and not providing free samples” and it turns out that people can offer things in good faith without having to promise them in a legal contract. You definitely shouldn’t prepare a lawsuit based on the free samples but it’s totally reasonable to visit every week to try their latest flavor.
- blittle 5y agoThat's a poor analogy. An ice cream parlor offers free icecream purely to market thier product and drive business. An OSS dev gets nothing.
- saagarjha 5y agoNothing? Not at all: an open source developer gets the marketing/publicity benefit just like an ice cream parlor does. Why do you think companies open source their things? And as a solo developer, I get tons of high-quality inbound leads for job opportunities, get to interact with lots of smart people (many whom I end up forming long-lasting friendships with), and get other people to help improve and support my project with me. Plus I get the warm fuzzy feeling inside or high moral ground, or whatever you want to call it. If you’re not getting that from your open source work, why are you doing it anyways?
- yawaramin 5y agoWould you do your current job for free for, say, six months to earn 'exposure' and 'warm fuzzy feelings'?
- saagarjha 5y agoThat’s a false dichotomy, because an ice cream parlor doesn’t stop selling ice cream when they give out free samples, any more than most open source developers quit their jobs (or stop searching for one) to work on their personal projects. Plus, you’re kind of asking the wrong person anyways, because I think I actually do significantly more work for free than I do for what I get paid for, just for those warm fuzzy feelings (exposure being a nice bonus). Plus, I happen to be financially stable enough to probably do this for longer than six months if required even without a full-time job. I basically did this last year when switching jobs (actually around five months, while interviewing around at a leisurely pace) and it was incredibly enjoyable. Felt like I had retired early and could just pursue whatever I wanted to learn or make: if you can afford to do it, I’d strongly suggest giving it a try.
- passivate 5y agoIndeed, there is a difference, but it is also quickly forgotten when your production system is down with the boss breathing down your neck.