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Open Source - Why Do We Do It?

Posted by Cliff on from the open-source-meets-capitol-hill dept.

mikosullivan presents us with a unique opportuinity: "This Saturday, Sep 8, I have an appointment to meet with Congressman Rick Boucher to discuss open-source software. I made the appointment after talking to the congressman at a town-meeting here in Blacksburg, VA. During our short talk he asked a question that (not being a particularly talented public speaker) I found difficult to answer: why do open source software developers devote their time and talents to something they give away? That's the question I'd particularly like to answer: why do we do it? Answering this question may be the key to resolving public FUD about open source. This meeting is part of the opensourcelobby.org efforts."

2 of 378 comments (clear)

  1. Some Reasons by Nater · · Score: 3, Offtopic

    why do open source software developers devote their time and talents to something they give away?

    Often, it is because they need the software they are writing.

    Often, it is because they are curious about a particular technology and "just playing".

    Often, it is because of a principled decision to shun proprietary software.

    Often, it is because a particular piece of software would fetch no money in a commercial market.

    Often, it is to impress chicks.

    --

    I like to play children's songs in minor keys.
    "We're all sons of bitches now." --J. Robert Oppenheimer

  2. My experience of Open Source by doctor_oktagon · · Score: 4, Offtopic

    Apart from a few evangalistic & talented individuals I think most Open Source projects are started by relatively young hackers who want to develop their coding skills and try and write an application they feel would better their lives or their workstation.

    I spent months of my free time trying to hack together a personal organiser/scheduler that could cope with my busy life before I gave up, sold my Amiga, and moved to a more modern platform. I must have started 100 different "projects" that I would be ashamed ever to show anyone *grin*

    In my old days as a developer I worked with a guy who contributed a significant account to XEmacs and he done it because he was a power-user who was talented enough to be able to code in Lisp, and he felt compelled to help as he relied on Emacs for coding commercial apps. People like this are few and far between, and few have the comittment and long-term motivation required to take development through to completion, unless they are working in a paid, competitive environment with real customers, deliverables, and deadlines.

    The problem is that not enough people band together, start a (semi) formal development programme with solid requirements, and then code/test it to completion ... I'm sure Source Forge is littered with thousands of "Version 0.001" releases that will never make it to the actually useful stage.