Ask HN: Why you do open source?

#1

Post by shintoist » Sat, Apr 06, 2013, 11:02 AM UTC

We're working on our bachelor's thesis and we're looking at what motivates open source developers.

There's only one question, please write as little or much as you can. Thank you!

https://docs.google.com/forms/d/1MtXwd4kVF6kSuC4q_4rDaUksBRckLaCfgJGP6_JKSnY/edit

Re: Ask HN: Why you do open source?

#2

Post by niclupien » Sat, Apr 06, 2013, 11:26 AM UTC

I do open source because I don't care of making money I just want to hack on something, pass the time, have fun.

Re: Ask HN: Why you do open source?

#3

Post by huhtenberg » Sat, Apr 06, 2013, 11:36 AM UTC

I only release code that I really like myself. So, essentially, I open source to brag.

PS. Participating in the O/S projects of others is the whole other deal. You may want to clarify the question as to what you are asking about.

Re: Ask HN: Why you do open source?

#4

Post by olegp » Sat, Apr 06, 2013, 11:36 AM UTC

I feel that it improves the quality of the code I produce & motivates me to improve it further when I see others using it.

Re: Ask HN: Why you do open source?

#5

Post by pjmlp » Sat, Apr 06, 2013, 11:38 AM UTC

Although I earn my money by selling commercial software, open sourcing private projects is a way to give back the knowledge I was able to learn via open source.

Re: Ask HN: Why you do open source?

#6

Post by bellwether » Sat, Apr 06, 2013, 11:42 AM UTC

altruism, symbiosis, ego and profit.

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altruism: it feels good to help. plus, there are times you solve a problem that others are likely to encounter and want to save them the grief.

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symbiosis: open source technologies make it easier to create our projects. to ensure these resources dont go away, we contribute back to them.

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ego: it is quite an accomplishment to have a large number of other devs use your work. you also want to show your knowledge on a given subject.

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profit: there is money in providing support to open source technologies. it also helps strengthen trust in a service.

Re: Ask HN: Why you do open source?

#7

Post by klrr » Sat, Apr 06, 2013, 11:49 AM UTC

To help the community, aka make the community you're in liking you better so you feel better. Humans are selfish, open source let you be selfish while contributing to humanity.

Re: Ask HN: Why you do open source?

#8

Post by nkuttler » Sat, Apr 06, 2013, 11:51 AM UTC

It's the natural thing to do.

Re: Ask HN: Why you do open source?

#9

Post by icebraining » Sat, Apr 06, 2013, 11:53 AM UTC

I get paid to do it ;) All the code we write at the company I work for is Free Software (though not all is available online).

Re: Ask HN: Why you do open source?

#10

Post by rcfox » Sat, Apr 06, 2013, 11:55 AM UTC

This might help with your literature review: http://codingfreedom.com/ (A PDF of the book is freely available for download on the site.)

It's a long read. I managed to get part of the way through it before getting distracted by other books, but a lot of it held true for me.