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Their use doesn't, but from time to time they send in bug reports and feature requests, don't they? Where do you draw the line between extending your project a
by samus 2y ago
Their use doesn't, but from time to time they send in bug reports and feature requests, don't they?
Where do you draw the line between extending your project and providing free labor to a for-profit company?
Fixing bugs is less controversial, while finding solutions to issues arising in bespoke production environments, with short deadlines, is grueling work for which companies are usually gladly purchasing support contract. Where is the line past which you ask for money, and are you really fine helping a company avoid lawsuits and brand damage after they neglect updates for years, with no gratitude from their side? Case in point: log4shell in late 2021
- jefftk 2y ago> Where do you draw the line between extending your project and providing free labor to a for-profit company? I work on my various projects to the extent that it is fun. If it stops being fun, I don't do it. Making something broadly useful is generally more fun than helping someone with a one-off thing, though that is not my decision criteria. If someone wants me to do something that isn't fun, they can offer me money, though they will generally need to offer me enough more money than it isn't worth it.
- samus 2y agoIf you put in work only to the extend that it's fun, then it is probably something with very clearly delineated scope (kudos for sticking to that!) or not really one of the projects that are so critical that companies should be expected to chip in money for support.
- renewiltord 2y agoBug reports are other people doing work for me. I’m fine with that. These are free interactions between people. If you want to charge for bug reports then you can put that in your repo text and just auto-close any issue from non-approved authors. If you want to bountysource a solution do that. If you don’t want to fix an issue don’t.
- samus 2y agoFiling a bug report is only half of the work. The bug then has to be reproduced, fixed, tested, documented, and rolled out. Sometimes with a deadline. If that sounds fun to you, I really cannot argue against it. Usually, that is part of a support contract, and therefore hobbyist open source developers basically supply free labor to for-profit companies.
- renewiltord 2y agoYou don't have to fix bugs. They can remain bugs. Deadlines are other people's problems.