Re: Why open source?

[Pete Helgren <Pete@xxxxxxxxxx>]

I recall what my Micro-Economics Professor at the UofU once said: "It is 
all about maximizing joy".

I absolutely agree with that, so the reconciliation is that any pursuit 
it based on maximizing joy. Some folks focus on earning money to buy 
joy.  Some just get joy from sharing.  Some are somewhere on that 
spectrum.  Some find it conditional (will to give on some things and not 
willing to on others).

Aaron seems to reflect where I am, and it was about 20 years ago that I 
decided the that the joy of "working for the man" just wasn't there and 
started working for myself  or starting companies that I had ownership 
in (cleverly cutting my salary in half and never really recovering those 
lost earnings).  About 10 years ago I started to explore Open Source and 
started giving away some of what I guess I could have sold (maybe) and 
thus giving up even more income (or at least the potential). But I 
couldn't be more at peace nor have more joy.  Every day I look forward 
to the work I do.  Not many folks can say that.  So it all comes down to 
joy.  Whatever floats your boat.

Yeah, I'd love to make it big and have someone buy the Attendance 
Management System that I *do* sell (on rare occasions, I am not a good 
sales person).  But I would still do what do now.

Pete

"He is no fool who gives what he cannot keep to gain that which he 
cannot lose."  Jim Elliot


On 6/3/2010 3:48 PM, Nathan Andelin wrote:
> > From: Aaron Bartell
> > Awhile back we had discussion about why in the heck someone would
> > want to give away source without much, if any, monetary or business
> > return.
> >      
> I could relate to the video, too.  Individuals pursuing activities that require thinking, and especially creativity, need and value autonomy and self-direction.  And we're willing to sacrifice money, for it.
>
> But individual ownership is a big motivator, too; reaping from that which you sew; which may not mesh with your ideas about open-source.  How would you reconcile that?
>
> BTW, I appreciated your comment on Steve Wills blog, as well as other places, promoting the idea of micro-partitioning IBM i servers in small enough slices, that individual programmers might afford autonomy, self-direction, and individual ownership of work product.  Too many IBM i programmers are stuck with working only on employer's servers, where the employer controls the manner and means, so to speak.
>
> -Nathan.
>
>
>
>
>