Why are you an open source developer?

matt_man22 · 2008-03-27 06:03:17

Hi all,

I am doing a research paper into open source and it would be a great help to know why developers do programming for open source software. This following would be useful:

1. Are you an active developer, why?
2. Do you have a full-time job besides open source programming
3. Do you enjoy it?

Thanks, I appreciate any responses I can get.

soloport · 2008-03-27 23:59:07

1. Yes. See "Why".
2. No.
3. Yes.

Why: A fraction of what we get done would be the result if we were working alone, in a vacuum. It's thanks to many other organizations that we're able to crank out the work we do in so little time. The "no waiting" nature of being able to just open up a file, make a change, test, submit a patch to the maintainer and move on is unbeatable.

You might add:
4. Do you do open source programming outside of your open source programming job? Why?

4. Yes. 'Cause it's fun. ;-)

nightmorph · 2008-03-28 05:48:07

soloport wrote:

You might add:
4. Do you do open source programming outside of your open source programming job? Why?

Who says all open source development is programming? Don't forget documentation, infrastructure maintenance, leadership, community management, public relations, and a hundred other non-programming jobs.

Me, I'm a developer because it scratches an itch, and I like bringing documentation to the masses. I like to write; what can I say.

wuischke · 2008-03-28 05:50:18

1. Yes, although I spend usually more time with related tasks (translations, support, bug search,...) than with actual coding.
2. No, but I'm a university student.
3. Yes, it's fun most of the time. If not, I wouldn't do it.
4. Yes, my private projects are usually available from public SVN on google code - BSD licensed.

zyghom · 2008-03-28 06:55:30

1.yes, it took my mind - share with others and from others
2.yes
3.yes
4.yes, look point 1

Dusty · 2008-03-28 13:36:40

Interesting paper topic.

1. Yes, I am an active developer. I love coding and solving problems. I am not currently actively developing any open source projects due to time constraints, but I'm sure this is just temporary. My primary reason for developing open source software is that I can develop better quality software -- if someone takes an interest in my open source project and starts contributing, I get free development hours out of them. And they will be very high quality hours because the person is interested in the success of the project, and not just getting paid for his work.

2. I don't know if you'd call it full time exactly, but I work as a self-employed contractual software developer. My current projects are all closed source, but most of them use open source tools that I occasionally modify to suit my client's needs.

3. I love coding in general. I love contributing to open source because the payback is huge. For example, for all the time I've contributed to Arch, I get a distribution that is far and above anything I could ever create by myself.

4. I guess I answered this in #1.

Dusty

matt_man22 · 2008-03-28 19:04:35

Thanks for all the responses so far. It has been very helpful.

My paper is analyzing whether the greater choice available in open source creates better software overall. I am trying to get a developer perspective because I believe that most coders in open source do it because it interests them, rather than just getting paid like most closed source projects.

Any more responses would be appreciated!

Arch Linux

#1 2008-03-27 06:03:17

Why are you an open source developer?

#2 2008-03-27 23:59:07

Re: Why are you an open source developer?

#3 2008-03-28 05:48:07

Re: Why are you an open source developer?

#4 2008-03-28 05:50:18

Re: Why are you an open source developer?

#5 2008-03-28 06:55:30

Re: Why are you an open source developer?

#6 2008-03-28 13:36:40

Re: Why are you an open source developer?

#7 2008-03-28 19:04:35

Re: Why are you an open source developer?

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