Yes. I use a lot of open source software. Often it doesn’t do something I’d like it to, or it misbehaves, and I’m fortunate enough to be able to spare time to contribute. Plus it’s a great way to learn new things or get a better understanding of how things you use work, and you often get to meet people doing interesting work!
Ask HN: Do you contribute to open source? Why? Why not?
11–20 of 65 posts
Re: Ask HN: Do you contribute to open source? Why? Why not?
#12Personally I don't, but I know people who do and whilst meeting and chatting with them, they are very encouraging to newcomers who want to attract new contributors. Without them, most of all the software used by everyone would be non-existent.
Why?
Some of them tell me that this helps them improve their skills and allows transparency in the project which helps their project in being trustworthy than the alternatives. Promoting more FLOSS-based software.
Why not?
While for many years, it has been a voluntary endeavour for devs and they take donations or sponsorship to fund their development. On Github, unless you are lucky enough to be a celebrity programmer of a famous project, this is difficult for many to build such a reputation and release a useful project for free to get paid for it. Thus, GitHub has accelerated this entitlement and only the famous programmers with a solid fanbase will reap its benefits.
I think it would be better to donate to an OSS org for more devs to get paid rather than to a specific individual/developer, unless they are the sole owner of the project.
Re: Ask HN: Do you contribute to open source? Why? Why not?
#13I'm not contributing to any free / open source projects.
I think that that FOSS is fueling the technology monopolies, despite originally aiming at the exact opposite. I think it has driven many software markets in the ground like for example tooling. I cannot believe that we use absolutely horrible software like GDB in 2020.
I think there is a lot of left learning ideology behind hte FOSS development and also these types of products have a limited way in which they can be monetized.
P.S. I know I'm gonna get a lot of hate, but I think that as a developer you can spend your time better elsewhere :)
Re: Ask HN: Do you contribute to open source? Why? Why not?
#14Yup, I did contribute to some small OSS projects
Re: Ask HN: Do you contribute to open source? Why? Why not?
#15I do, at any possible occasion, for fixing/reporting bugs, proposing/discussing features, documenting, or simply curiosity and learning
Re: Ask HN: Do you contribute to open source? Why? Why not?
#16I donate to the fsf. At one point I realized how much free software my company was using. Thanks to it I was getting paid. I thought it was only fair to give back. Of course it should have been my company that should have done that, but they were greedy morons at the time.
Re: Ask HN: Do you contribute to open source? Why? Why not?
#17I would like to contribute more. But the first reason I don't do it is the amount of time it requires.
Investigating the issue, opening a ticket, digging in someone else's code, coding the fix, testing it, opening a PR, updating following review's comments, etc, can take hours.
I created an open source developer tool (https://mockoon.com). And I can see the amount of time it takes for other people to contribute. On my side, reviewing or correcting other people contribution is already a lot of work. I think open source is fantastic but can really become a full time job. :) I really believe companies using open source libraries and software should start contributing financially or by dedicating employee's time to contribute. We are in 2019 and this must be seen as an investment.
Re: Ask HN: Do you contribute to open source? Why? Why not?
#18I try sometimes but not that interested tbh. It boils down to my experience with PRs. they ignore it forever without a comment sometimes, other times it takes a lot of back and forth discussion which takes up valuable time. I wanted to contribute in other ways too but I alwayd run into roadblocks such as how bigger projects want you to have or build reputation first and they "frown upon" not using your real name and email. I am not saying any if that is bad or unreasonable, just incompatible with my requirements. Ymmv, I greatly appreciate all contributors. I wish more foss projects that are full blown apps offered commercial support though, it makes it easier to find people that can commit more time and resources.
Re: Ask HN: Do you contribute to open source? Why? Why not?
#19I'm not contributing to any free / open source projects. I think that that FOSS is fueling the technology monopolies, despite originally aiming at the exact opposite. I think it has driven many software markets in the ground like for example tooling. I cannot believe that we use absolutely horrible software like GDB in 2020. I think there is a lot of left learning ideology behind hte FOSS development and also these t…
Can you elaborate on how foss fuels tech monopolies? I've never understood that argument and would like to hear more.
Re: Ask HN: Do you contribute to open source? Why? Why not?
#20I'm not contributing to any free / open source projects. I think that that FOSS is fueling the technology monopolies, despite originally aiming at the exact opposite. I think it has driven many software markets in the ground like for example tooling. I cannot believe that we use absolutely horrible software like GDB in 2020. I think there is a lot of left learning ideology behind hte FOSS development and also these t…
In a competitive market, economic profit can be positive in the short run but will be driven to zero in the long run. FOSS is but one of many competitive forces. It just so happens that thee long-run state is when profit equals marginal cost, and for software that is zero ("free")