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I could write a big essay and I almost did, but I'll shorten it. The world will never be open source. But, lots of awesome tools, libraries, programming langua

by readme 13y ago

I could write a big essay and I almost did, but I'll shorten it. The world will never be open source. But, lots of awesome tools, libraries, programming languages, and servers, are. Get a job working on web applications, because you'll get to use lots of free and open technology that way, and likely contribute back to projects. Open source is not the answer to every problem. Proprietary software beats it in several ways and will never disappear. Anyone telling you something else is ignoring the overwhelming mound of data called reality. OTOH, I love open tools and prefer them over proprietary ones by far. But, there's not a damn chance in the world that the next big thing everyone uses is going to be developed bazaar style. Open source might produce some better software, but companies are the most efficient beast for producing anything. Companies will only open source things when it benefits them (logically), and since open sourcing code will not benefit companies 100% of the time, the primary producers of software (companies) will prevent this open source utopia from ever existing.

reedlaw 13y ago
I do work on web applications for a living. So I get to use lots of great free software. But all too often, the fruit of my labor is heavily restricted by copyright and licensing or, worse, neither used nor allowed to be re-used because the idea didn't take off. Yet the shareholders still want to fiercely protect it. Why can't there be more open-source companies? Gittip is the only example I know of so far. The catch 22 seems to be how can a company grow if its products are open source, or how can it remain open source while somehow charging customers?
- larkarvin 13y ago
  look at wordpress, magento or ubuntu they take consulting and hosting payments but their main product are open source. It seems ghost blogging platform will use the same business model.
runjake 13y ago
I feel like you just used his submission to take the opportunity to write out a personal diatribe. He specifically said he did not want to be an extremist but rather "how can I live so that the benefits of open-source are maximized while the detriments of closed-source are minimized?" In the end, you didn't offer anything useful that addresses his question. To answer the OP's question: use open source products whenever convenient, and almost as importantly, assist with the development of OSS whenever possible, be it code, documentation, or helping newbies.
- deleted 13y ago
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by readme 13y ago

reedlaw 13y ago

I do work on web applications for a living. So I get to use lots of great free software. But all too often, the fruit of my labor is heavily restricted by copyright and licensing or, worse, neither used nor allowed to be re-used because the idea didn't take off. Yet the shareholders still want to fiercely protect it. Why can't there be more open-source companies? Gittip is the only example I know of so far. The catch 22 seems to be how can a company grow if its products are open source, or how can it remain open source while somehow charging customers?

larkarvin 13y ago
look at wordpress, magento or ubuntu they take consulting and hosting payments but their main product are open source. It seems ghost blogging platform will use the same business model.

runjake 13y ago

I feel like you just used his submission to take the opportunity to write out a personal diatribe. He specifically said he did not want to be an extremist but rather "how can I live so that the benefits of open-source are maximized while the detriments of closed-source are minimized?" In the end, you didn't offer anything useful that addresses his question. To answer the OP's question: use open source products whenever convenient, and almost as importantly, assist with the development of OSS whenever possible, be it code, documentation, or helping newbies.

deleted 13y ago
[deleted]