So much proprietary code that gets written ends up disappearing in cancelled or obsolete projects. Open sourcing code is a way to have longer term proof of some sort of achievement.
Ask HN: Why you do open source?
31–40 of 84 posts
Re: Ask HN: Why you do open source?
#321) I open source my work in advance so that when I use FOSS I don't feel like a mooch.
2) I like the idea of a global-scale code review. When I write OSS I think someone might read my code and it motivates me to be less hacky.
Re: Ask HN: Why you do open source?
#331. So that I never have to write the same code twice.
2. Because it feels good to share. I use a lot of other people's open source code, so I want to give something back.
3. Because I like the idea of my work benefiting millions of people every day, even though it's in a very small way and without their knowledge.
4. Because it's much more effective than a CV / resume. Potential clients (mostly) come to me, rather than the other way round, because they've already seen (or are using) my work.
Re: Ask HN: Why you do open source?
#34To reduce the waste of human energy that repeats the same task a million times by not communicating, and in the process to increase the quality of the output of human energy by having what energy is available be focused on improving the existing output or using it. I can't get over the profound sense of waste when I do something and think "50,000 devs have probably done this before, and 100,000 more will do it again"…
Nice answer David. Open source plays such an integral part in how I write code these days.
When tackling a problem I decide wether:
A. This problem is niche, it's no use to someone else. I need to write it and it's not worth open sourcing it
B. This problem is of use to someone else - someone has probably already solved it better than I'm likely to and I should find their code
C. This problem is of use to someone else and I can't find code to solve it then there's a small chance that I can benefit other people (and perhaps also build my own profile) by writing something that does solve it. Like creating a product people use, it's an honour to create code people use.
Finally, as a founder I feel that if you produce code which isn't a tactical asset in the company but which really could be of use to a large group of other people then you stand a chance of making it tougher, more flexible and more efficient by letting other people use and improve it. It's a real power-up for the company itself.
Re: Ask HN: Why you do open source?
#35For me the choice is between open source and keeping it only on my hard drive. I doubt that I would be able to market what I do effectively. Also by open sourcing my apps it forces me to make the code cleaner than I otherwise would. And I get testing for free.
Re: Ask HN: Why you do open source?
#36Testing, testing, testing!
I find traditional unit testing limiting because you have to design the tests (and may miss a corner case etc). Having other people use the code generally presents you with situations you may not have thought of or may not have planned to address until later.
Especially with a mammoth project, incremental development is easier when you know what aspects are most important. I have been doing this with http://niggler.github.io/js-xlsx/ and it proved to be effective when others started using it in ways I didn't plan to address until later.
Re: Ask HN: Why you do open source?
#37For me it's about giving back, having a bigger impact, meeting other smart engineers and improving my skills.
Re: Ask HN: Why you do open source?
#38To reduce the waste of human energy that repeats the same task a million times by not communicating, and in the process to increase the quality of the output of human energy by having what energy is available be focused on improving the existing output or using it. I can't get over the profound sense of waste when I do something and think "50,000 devs have probably done this before, and 100,000 more will do it again"…
But open source software doesn't necessarily avoid the waste that you're describing.
Just look at MySQL, and derived DBs like MariaDB and Drizzle. There is much overlap with PostgreSQL, but PostgreSQL is objectively superior in just about every way. Then there is all of the effort put toward the various libraries and tools for each, toward other application support for each, and so forth. Is it not wasteful when people spend time, money and energy on or supporting the inferior open source project?
Then there is the duplication that is forced by the use of certain open source licenses. GPL-style licenses, for instance, have prevented a lot of reuse and sharing of effort due to their somewhat restrictive terms. Open source projects using more liberal licenses, or commercial projects, often must intentionally ignore and avoid such other open source software with more restrictive licensing.
Open source may help avoid duplicate effort and code, for instance, but it is still rife with inefficiencies.
Re: Ask HN: Why you do open source?
#39To reduce the waste of human energy that repeats the same task a million times by not communicating, and in the process to increase the quality of the output of human energy by having what energy is available be focused on improving the existing output or using it. I can't get over the profound sense of waste when I do something and think "50,000 devs have probably done this before, and 100,000 more will do it again"…
But open source software doesn't necessarily avoid the waste that you're describing. Just look at MySQL, and derived DBs like MariaDB and Drizzle. There is much overlap with PostgreSQL, but PostgreSQL is objectively superior in just about every way. Then there is all of the effort put toward the various libraries and tools for each, toward other application support for each, and so forth. Is it not wasteful when peop…
The guy you replied to said "reduce waste", not "completely eliminate all waste". All the scenarios you describe are much less wasteful than if nothing was open source.
Re: Ask HN: Why you do open source?
#40[deleted]