I’ve been involved in technology and software as a professional since 1989. In that time I’ve seen many things come and go, but one thing I haven’t seemed to be able to get to grips with is Freeware and Open Source Software (OSS). The idea behind OSS, that an altruistic community of do-gooders get together and make software for the world to enjoy for free, is just alien. While small programs or promotional pieces are expected to be given out for free, large complex programs like word processors and even entire operating systems are now free for the taking.
Is the force of peer approval more powerful than the profit motive? Is that even a justified statement, as is it peer approval which drives Open Source Software development? I don’t personally know any of these guys that are writing huge chunks of code to just give away. I know many programmers very well, but all of them work for a living and when they get done programming for money, they just don’t have it in them to sit and code for hours more for free. That they exist is certain, just look at the OSS movement. Maybe they are all independently wealthy people or programmers who hit it big with stock options in the late 90’s and are looking to give back. Who ever they are, my hats are off to them, but I don’t think open source software will ever be as good as commercial software.
It’s just logical; who has more incentive to work harder and produce a better product?
A) A team of guys making six figure salaries, work together in nice offices with top of the line equipment, and who each get a 15% performance bonus if they do the work well.
OR
B) A team of guys spread out over half the world who might or might not feel like chipping in their part of the code that day working on patchwork networks of cobbled together servers?
For me, the answer is clear, but it poses the question, what about Donation based software? That will be the topic of my next post.
Tags: Donation Society, Freeware, Open Source Software, OSS, profit motive
