[dba-Tech] Why is there so many OSS projects?

Arthur Fuller fuller.artful at gmail.com
Thu Aug 22 05:17:45 CDT 2013


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


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