Archive of UserLand's first discussion group, started October 5, 1998.

My Rant.

Author:David Brown
Posted:8/28/2000; 5:20:35 PM
Topic:scriptingNews outline for 8/28/2000
Msg #:20404 (In response to 20400)
Prev/Next:20403 / 20405

I've wanted to write this down, but never found an appropriate place. Don't know if this place is any more appropriate than any other, but here goes:

For a long time I've been harboring a vision. I'd work hard, make enough money to stop working hard, and then write Open Source software. It sounded Noble.

But it's all contingent on the "make enough money to stop working hard" part. What are the odds of that happening? Not good, really.

In the meantime I have bills to pay. I have a mortgage. I have a hardware habit. In the meantime I need to make money doing something. And if I have to get paid to do something, I might as well get paid to do something I'm good at, and enjoy.

The basic truth is that while I like the idea of Open Source, and I like the idea of getting good software for free, the model breaks down when I have to continue to live in our society.

And I LIKE our society. I like being rewarded for doing something well. I think it's the only model we've found that worked well. I remember a joke I heard when the Soviet Union fell. The joke was: "The problem with Communism was that there wasn't any money in it." It's true -- where is the desire to excel if nothing about your life improves as a result?

I think there's a place for Open Source. But I also think that someone has to stand up against the demonization of commercial software. It's not all bad. Much of it is very good.

There's this feeling that we all have a Right to the fruits of other's labors and creativity, especially if they labor and create in the software industry. There's a feeling that we are ENTITLED to the software for free. And all because it is possible to exactly duplicate the product of my creativity?! Because the cost of duplicating and distributing my effort is zero?

The software that has been released as Open Source is a GIFT, folks. An incredibly generous GIFT. Do you start whining at your birthday because you didn't get what you wanted?

Argh.

I know that in this forum, no one has been acting the way I just described. I also know that I'm probably going to be misquoted, and painted as a commercial software bigot.

That said, I also think that the Open Software movement is a valuable thing. I think that in the long run, it raises the bar of quality for all software. I think that it gives power to the powerless. Does it give us a better floor wax? Perhaps not.

There are economic models that work very well, and include Open Source. Look at Digital Creations and Zope.

I use a large amount of Open Source software myself. XEmacs. The afore-mentioned Zope. Python. Debian Linux. OpenBSD. The GNU toolchain. et cetera and so forth, the list goes on for quite a while. I also enjoy using commercial software. RU is on the top of the list.

Was this a pointless and mis-aimed rant? Probably. Do I feel better now? Yeah, somewhat.

Will I continue to do Open Source software? Yes. Perhaps a little bit for respect, and perhaps as a living resume. Who knows, I still enjoy it.

And I enjoy getting paid to do what I do well.

dave

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