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Open Source Developers Mostly Pros, Not Weenies

Posted by timothy on from the what's-my-motivation dept.

SpinyNorman writes: "Survey shows open source developers mostly veteran pros, not slashdot weenies. Slashdot weenie Hemos should have submitted this himself already seeing as he was involved in it as LinuxWorld! Open source a needed outlet for programming pros." Like any survey, it's bound to miss some avenues of exploration, but this is the best look at a large group of open source developers I've seen yet. The survey itself (a joint project of the Boston Consulting Group and Slashdot-parent OSDN) lives at www.osdn.com/bcg, or you can jump straight to it in either PDF or html.

2 of 198 comments (clear)

  1. Interesting, but not THAT interesting by RareHeintz · · Score: 5, Insightful
    This is cool to hear about, but I can't say it comes as that much of a surprise. Most of the pros I know really love hacking, and most of them have programming- and tinkering-related projects they pursue on their own time. That these people should make up a significant part of the open source community just seems to make sense.

    Just my US$2e-02. OK,
    - B

    --
    http://www.bradheintz.com/
    - updated
  2. Re:Very timely study by ergo98 · · Score: 5, Insightful

    most open source zealots are damn good coders, and yes, many of them even have jobs and a house/apartment!

    Everything was great until I came across this: Most open source zealots haven't written a line of code in their life. Most open source authors are pragmatic and appreciate the benefits in particular areas, and their approach is anything but zealotry. There is a vast chasm of difference between the attitudes of a Slashdot Warrior advocating the true way of enlightenment, and the people who are behind the usable open source.