Feeling like I'm part of something bigger than me and my own personal code. I won't try to rationalise it, because it's pretty much an emotional response, but I enjoy the feeling of other people using my code, because it means I've had a positive influence on the world.
Ask HN: Why you do open source?
21–30 of 84 posts
Re: Ask HN: Why you do open source?
#22It's fun. If you can find joy in coding, you would most likely enjoy discussing said code with others, getting feedback, learning about it, improving it, etc. Open sourcing code makes all this possible and easy, and when there are no ulterior business motives to keep your code in safe, what is there to lose?
Re: Ask HN: Why you do open source?
#23I was able to learn development thanks to open source and the first full time development job I had was at a company that used an almost all open source stack. Imagine some poor kid wandering into a university library to try and get a library card, being given a computer login and having their entire direction in life changed just because someone was altruistic enough at some point to make their source code available and free to use.
Re: Ask HN: Why you do open source?
#24Curricula and experience.
Re: Ask HN: Why you do open source?
#25I 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).
So you don't really open source, the company you work for does.
I'm not the copyright holder, no. On the other hand, the fact that all our software is Free influenced a great deal in my decision to join the company. Take it as you wish.
I've also released some code of which I'm the copyright holder as Free Software, mainly plugins for other applications. I've licensed it as such because I thought others could benefit from it.
Re: Ask HN: Why you do open source?
#26Why not ?
I would never have any advantage (serious one) to the code I write and keep only for myself.
Then, open sourcing, I can meet new person, find new problem, and gain in knowledge.
There is then the point of "making a name": "Whooa he is the guy behind PUT-BIG-HOT-THING-HERE" is always a good motivation, plus it can land you on a good job.
And finally, yes, there is also the point of giving back to the community... I took so much from the Open Source that I need to give back at least my shitty code.
Re: Ask HN: Why you do open source?
#27I'd like to contribute to the question if possible... Does anyone here open source products as opposed to libraries? If so, why?
Re: Ask HN: Why you do open source?
#28So I can write code I'm proud of. Everything I've released has been carefully crafted so it's a work of beauty, relatively speaking.
I don't get to do that much for my usual contract work (yes, I'm one of those developers - sorry).
Re: Ask HN: Why you do open source?
#29There are a few points.
- Avoiding being alienated from my own work.
- To produce software which anyone can use, regardless of financial or geographical situation.
- To produce better quality software by not reinventing the wheel and by the ability to modify or reuse existing code.
Re: Ask HN: Why you do open source?
#30I'm not a much of a developer, but I use OSS in my work extensively and I've shared the scripts and simple tools when I think they'll be useful to someone else.
I use because:
- I feel much more confident supporting something which I know I can dig into and observe the function of. This can give me and understand of what I'm doing wrong, allow me to work around it or possibly patch it entirely. Contrast this with the helplessness of troubleshooting the black box of closed software.
- It's cost effective. Money not spent on expensive licenses and implied support contracts can be applied elsewhere. Since much of my work deals with public funds, I feel particularly obligated to maximize value.
- I feel what I learn using OSS is more transferable, and applicable to other systems and problems than closed software.
I contribute because:
- I think sharing discovery and tools and building on the work of others is key to our success as a species. It feels completely natural.
- It opens the door for symbiotic improvements. Personally, I seem to be pretty good at find a novel perspective on a problem, but have little knowledge of how to code it efficiently. Sharing my code with someone who knows how to do those things benefits us both.
- To learn by practice and example.