On Fri, Aug 08, 2003 at 05:59:52PM +0100, Andrew Suffield wrote:
> On Fri, Aug 08, 2003 at 10:32:07AM -0600, Joel Baker wrote:
> > > > * want to contribute something to a project they respect
> > > > * want to help out Debian users
> > > > * want to help promote the goals of Debian
> > >
> > > These are bad reasons.
> >
> > They are also the only reasons anyone would want to contribute to Debian,
> > rather than to, say, NetBSD. Or any other open-source OS you might care
> > to name. "Because it's there" may be a reason to code, but it produces no
> > motivation whatsoever to contribute to Debian when there are MUCH easier
> > places to contribute to.
>
> Start with the things about Debian which are distinctly different from
> other projects. You should be able to find some things which you want
> to do which depend on these things. If not... well, why *are* you here?
In my case, it's the political infrastructure and charter. The Social
Contract, the DFSG, the Constitution. That means, I guess, "want to
contribute something to a project they respect" - at least, for why I
contribute *to Debian*, rather than another project. Why I contribute at
all is covered below.
> > > I don't think you're going to get it, either. It's basically the same
> > > question as "Why do people write free software?", and if you come up
> > > with "altruism", "politics", or "respect" then you're barking up the
> > > wrong tree.
> >
> > Funny. I thought the FSF was, at least origionally, more or less entirely
> > about self-interest, altruism, and politics.
>
> The organisation might have been founded for those reasons, although I
> think it was primarily politics. I don't think you'll find much (if
> any) GNU code that was written because of them. Most of it was written
> because "I need a foo. I don't *have* a foo, but I *do* know how to
> make one".
That's why the code was written - but it doesn't explain why it was
contributed to the FSF. Giving over a copyright is not a small thing.
> > So tell us - why *do* people write free software?
>
> I write software because I can, and I release it as free software
> because that makes it better over time. Others will vary (I'm not in
> the mood for writing an essay on the subject).
Whereas I write it because it solves a problem I have, or because it
interests me, and I give it away because I hope that others might benefit
from it (even if just having a few moments of entertainment, in some cases)
just as I have benefitted from the people who did it before me.
That would be 'altruism'. Not as a reason to write it, but as a reason to
give it away. I do not, and have never, subscribed to the theory that all
altruism is merely well-concealed self-interest (though much of it very
well may be).
I also write code that I don't give away. Mostly either because I don't
think anyone else who would ever need it would manage to find it, among
the swamp that is the Internet, or because I intend to sell the code (or
already have a contract to do so), and I certainly like to be able to eat,
as much as the next developer, and employers who will let you open-source
the code are still relatively rare (often for good reason).
--
Joel Baker <fenton@debian.org> ,''`.
Debian GNU NetBSD/i386 porter : :' :
`. `'
`-
Attachment:
pgpWimeVVibLd.pgp
Description: PGP signature