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This times a million. I'm not sure when people started thinking that everything they do outside of office hours should have a paid return, but open source is me

by CM30 4y ago

This times a million. I'm not sure when people started thinking that everything they do outside of office hours should have a paid return, but open source is meant to be something you do to help others, if you feel like doing it. It's basically just giving back to the community after creating something interesting for your own purposes. Does that mean it can't help you get opportunities that can make you money? No of course not. It can look good on a CV, boost your name reputation online, get you a speaking gig or a spot at a conference, etc. But it won't necessarily do that, and you shouldn't expect a return in 99.9% of cases. It's like expecting that your video game mods are going to become your career. In theory it could happen, but it 99% of cases it won't, and that's perfectly fine. It's something you do because you enjoy it.

beached_whale 4y ago
Hard disagree and flip it back to the freedoms of the user of the software. OSS is about giving the people using software the freedom to inspect and modify the code to the system they use, full stop. The developers have always had the ability and right to sell it or earn from making it. That people think it is developer servitude and virtuously giving it away is incorrect. It may happen, but it is def not a requirement
- CM30 4y ago
  I guess I should mention that there's nothing wrong with selling an open source product, or selling services related to it. And it can work for sure, especially if you market it correctly. The thing to note is that: 1. If you're sticking your code up on GitHub or whatever, you shouldn't really expect to make money from that alone. People will use it, and the majority of them won't do much more to support the project that give it a star. 2. If you do sell an open source product, other people can compete with you by selling the same code to their users/customers too.
tracker1 4y ago
I've always been a proponent of open-sourcing libraries and smaller apps that aren't a core part of one's business. I don't do that much to be honest, I file issues and feature requests and on occasion, will form/fix/pr back upstream. IMO is about scratching one's own itch first. That said, I'm not good at running a business, and have little motivation to do so. I like what I do, I'm paid pretty well to do it. In the end, that means I'll probably never be a multi-millionaire. If I didn't work for others, I do have a couple projects I'd like to work on, biggest of which would be one that has been tread so many times before. In the end, it's a mix. Some are completely altruistic with their free time. Others are paid to work on floss as it brings recognition to a corporation, or scratches their own itches, collectively, but doesn't bring direct revenue. And some do want to be Entreprenurial, those are the ones that should think twice about fully open sourcing their core product(s). Open source the tools and adjacent products, don't necessarily open source your business.

by CM30 4y ago

beached_whale 4y ago

Hard disagree and flip it back to the freedoms of the user of the software. OSS is about giving the people using software the freedom to inspect and modify the code to the system they use, full stop. The developers have always had the ability and right to sell it or earn from making it. That people think it is developer servitude and virtuously giving it away is incorrect. It may happen, but it is def not a requirement

CM30 4y ago
I guess I should mention that there's nothing wrong with selling an open source product, or selling services related to it. And it can work for sure, especially if you market it correctly. The thing to note is that: 1. If you're sticking your code up on GitHub or whatever, you shouldn't really expect to make money from that alone. People will use it, and the majority of them won't do much more to support the project that give it a star. 2. If you do sell an open source product, other people can compete with you by selling the same code to their users/customers too.

tracker1 4y ago

I've always been a proponent of open-sourcing libraries and smaller apps that aren't a core part of one's business. I don't do that much to be honest, I file issues and feature requests and on occasion, will form/fix/pr back upstream. IMO is about scratching one's own itch first. That said, I'm not good at running a business, and have little motivation to do so. I like what I do, I'm paid pretty well to do it. In the end, that means I'll probably never be a multi-millionaire. If I didn't work for others, I do have a couple projects I'd like to work on, biggest of which would be one that has been tread so many times before. In the end, it's a mix. Some are completely altruistic with their free time. Others are paid to work on floss as it brings recognition to a corporation, or scratches their own itches, collectively, but doesn't bring direct revenue. And some do want to be Entreprenurial, those are the ones that should think twice about fully open sourcing their core product(s). Open source the tools and adjacent products, don't necessarily open source your business.