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The fact that Open Source Software exists at all, and is a thriving activity in the world of software development by thousands of people everywhere (not that it

by j1elo 2y ago

The fact that Open Source Software exists at all, and is a thriving activity in the world of software development by thousands of people everywhere (not that it doesn't have it's problems) means that no, for lots of people an incentive to share their knowledge isn't needed any more than knowing they are making the world a bit better with their contribution. Not everything is about incentives and money, money, money.

jart 2y ago
Open source is a thing because it's the most rewarding path. The respect I earn giving my software away is worth a lot more than any money I could hope to earn selling it. It's not possible to sell software. I also don't want to be in the business of managing other people's personal data, and get regulated to death, which makes SaaS not an option. All the paths to making money on your own in software are packed with stress, sociopaths, and landmines with little hope of striking gold. Software by its nature wants to be free, and most of the ways that exist to change that feel unnatural to me. It's much better to just live frugally and build things you love that you give away. Maybe this isn't the way things should be. If we had a sane and just economic system, then maybe I'd be an entrepreneur. I'm simply following incentives, and express no opinion on what's best or how the system ought to be.
impossiblefork 2y ago
Yes, but developing things can involve substantial investment. It's not just a hobby. If I want to design a new type of pump, we're probably talking about a lot of work, and probably paying people to machine it and maybe paying an expert in another area to do some engineering work on some aspect of it. The world as a whole is not like software. Furthermore, new things require groups of people getting into them. If we look at deep learning research, how much is from hobbyists? There is some, from people trying to get PhD student places at groups that demand impressive work and there are some dedicated hobbyists that are part of organisations, but most of the work is commercial or from universities. This is required to get masses of people to spend time on a problem.

by j1elo 2y ago

jart 2y ago

Open source is a thing because it's the most rewarding path. The respect I earn giving my software away is worth a lot more than any money I could hope to earn selling it. It's not possible to sell software. I also don't want to be in the business of managing other people's personal data, and get regulated to death, which makes SaaS not an option. All the paths to making money on your own in software are packed with stress, sociopaths, and landmines with little hope of striking gold. Software by its nature wants to be free, and most of the ways that exist to change that feel unnatural to me. It's much better to just live frugally and build things you love that you give away. Maybe this isn't the way things should be. If we had a sane and just economic system, then maybe I'd be an entrepreneur. I'm simply following incentives, and express no opinion on what's best or how the system ought to be.

impossiblefork 2y ago

Yes, but developing things can involve substantial investment. It's not just a hobby. If I want to design a new type of pump, we're probably talking about a lot of work, and probably paying people to machine it and maybe paying an expert in another area to do some engineering work on some aspect of it. The world as a whole is not like software. Furthermore, new things require groups of people getting into them. If we look at deep learning research, how much is from hobbyists? There is some, from people trying to get PhD student places at groups that demand impressive work and there are some dedicated hobbyists that are part of organisations, but most of the work is commercial or from universities. This is required to get masses of people to spend time on a problem.