Jim Lawrence
accessd at shaw.ca
Thu Aug 22 12:02:58 CDT 2013
Hi Arthur: A very interesting set of comments, Arthur. My question is why so many of the best young (or should I just say younger) programmers in the world spend so much of their time working on projects that will bring them no financial gain... IOW it appears that money is not the main driving factor, especially in the computer world...or is that financial motivation is easier to quantify in this particular business. Is this the case in most businesses? So what projects are you working on Now? Jim ----- Original Message ----- From: "Arthur Fuller" <fuller.artful at gmail.com> To: "Discussion of Hardware and Software issues" <dba-tech at databaseadvisors.com> Sent: Thursday, August 22, 2013 3:17:45 AM Subject: Re: [dba-Tech] Why is there so many OSS projects? Jim, I can think of four reasons: 1. it is so difficult to find the funding for any given project; 2. if one has the passion for programming, then funding and subsequent corporatization of the concept is way too much pain in the ass; 3. Jjust because I had the idea doesn't mean that I have the best implementation; 4. It's social networking on an intelligent plane, as opposed to the nude sex-vids so popular among those with no other claim to fame. My partner Peter Brawley and I are both working on separate apps, which we will both place in the OSS community as soon as they are ready for public consumption. This could be because we are both now senior citizens and thus receiving pensions, and therefore have enough to subsist, and consequently, money is no longer a goal. Which is not to say that I am averse to money, but merely that it is no longer a significant motive. At the moment I'm doing some part-time mentoring for a client in San Francisco, and I bill him for about 1 hour in 8, because a large part of the task involves research, so that part is on my dime not his. I'm doing it because it's intellectually interesting. The occasional check is nice, and I invest it in toys such as my spanky new laptop, but it is certainly not the goal. As the aforementioned Peter is fond of saying, "The best defense against Alzheimer's is to Keep Thinking." The virtue of being old enough to collect a pension is the freedom to choose which projects are worth your time. In days of yore, we used to have an acronym in our company: YAFOES (yet another f**king Order Entry System). Been there, done that. Now I'm on to more significant problems, almost none of which pay money. And guess what? I don't care. I can't afford fancy vacations in sunny climes but that too is OK. Arthur On Wed, Aug 21, 2013 at 11:10 PM, Jim Lawrence <accessd at shaw.ca> wrote: > One of these strange questions... It sure can not be the money? So why is > there any Open Source projects at all...no money no work may seem logical > to many but according to the following article this is not the case. Humans > are strange animals to say the least and programmers are probably the > strangest humans. ;-) > > > http://readwrite.com/2013/08/14/mobile-developers-its-not-about-the-money#awesm=~of1TClo7jXYlzl > > Jim > _______________________________________________ > dba-Tech mailing list > dba-Tech at databaseadvisors.com > http://databaseadvisors.com/mailman/listinfo/dba-tech > Website: http://www.databaseadvisors.com > -- Arthur _______________________________________________ dba-Tech mailing list dba-Tech at databaseadvisors.com http://databaseadvisors.com/mailman/listinfo/dba-tech Website: http://www.databaseadvisors.com