Why I don't believe that Open Source Software (OSS) model works

I have links to a few OSS pet projects here on my blog. Generally the stuff I play around with is either software that's helpful or fun to work on.

Since I published my Data Tier Generator around 4 years ago, it's had 32,735 downloads. To somebody like me, that's pretty incredible. Most people don't know me and sure haven't ever heard of me, but one of the apps I wrote has a ton of downloads! /cheer, right?

Out of all those downloads, I have 4-5 people contact me through email, bug reports, or posts on this blog. One of them had a legitimate suggestion for improvement of the queries using INFORMATION_SCHEMA. 2-3 of the others were from people who have taken the source and based their own work on it. I've actually had a company in India "evaluate" it and contact me about Oracle support because they'd like to use it in their consulting company. So to sum it up, out of almost 33,000 downloads, I had one person contribute to making it better.

A lot of people believe in OSS. They believe they're making the world a better place by giving their stuff away for the betterment of software developers everywhere. Personally, I see OSS as giving away my hard work for little or no reward, not even a "thank you".

Have you had a better experience, or one similar to mine?

posted on Monday, January 08, 2007 9:56 AM by aanttila

Comments

# re: Why I don't believe that Open Source Software (OSS) model works

I did manage to stumble across a "thank you" message after posting this, so while I was wrong, I still feel like OSS is overall better for consumers than producers. I guess that makes me selfish, but it is my time. :D
Monday, January 08, 2007 12:47 PM by Adrian Anttila

# re: Why I don't believe that Open Source Software (OSS) model works

I have never believed that OSS works either. How can it? People say that support is what can fund the developers pockets. Well, hate to tell you, but people HATE paying for support. They would rather move on to find another OSS product that doesn't have the same problem. I think everyone would rather pay for a product that comes with some kind of free support vs just paying for support when needed. Nevermind that when they pay upfront that they are really also buying support at the time of purchase, whether or not they use it.

Also, if you develop good OSS, then you can't make a living supporting it, because by its very nature it is good software that requires little support....just doesn't work in my mind.
Monday, January 08, 2007 1:25 PM by Brian

# re: Why I don't believe that Open Source Software (OSS) model works

Adrian,

I used to feel the same way - certainly OSS is (for the most part) not economically viable as there is no direct revenue.

However, there are several very successful open source projects - WordPress for example. I use it and love it (even though I'm an asp.net dev!) and it has a very active community. Granted, there are a million other unsuccessful open source projects.

If you contribute to open source because you want people to thank you or other people to contribute, you're in the wrong game. It is an unselfish act, and always will be. Looks good on your CV, though, so you benefit in that way.
Tuesday, January 09, 2007 12:49 AM by Andy

# re: Why I don't believe that Open Source Software (OSS) model works

Andy,

You're absolutely right. I wasn't doing it for glory, fame, or wealth. However, I've obviously helped a lot of people, and very few have come back to thank me or even provide feedback. I guess I was looking for that "community feeling" other projects have (JBoss, MySQL, etc). Obviously, I need some work on my community-building skills--heh.

You're also right about having that stuff on the resume. I've worked at places where they were afraid to adopt new technology, but I was able to keep my resume up-to-date technically because of the projects I have on SourceForge. ;)
Tuesday, January 09, 2007 9:52 AM by Adrian Anttila

# re: Why I don't believe that Open Source Software (OSS) model works

I have to disagree with your perception of the OSS model. However, I do agree that the system is being exploited and misused. I personally have learnt a lot from the OSS model, I'm sure you do too. I also stumbled upon your product on sourceforge.net, and it's extremely a great piece of work (atleast, it beats the one I created).

Thanks for your contribution. I'll surely give credit to you when it is due. Always.
Tuesday, April 08, 2008 7:34 AM by Caleel