The Culture of Open Source Research III

David Lancashire wrote an article that caught my attention. Among his other points in the article entitled, Code, Culture, and Cash: The Fading Altruism of Open Source Development, his most prominent idea is the belief that programmers will ultimately not participate in the development of open source software unless they receive a monetary award. He does not buy into Richard Stallman's ideals. Stallman says, "I consider that the golden rule requires that if I like a program I must share it with other people who like it."

Lancashire's article was interesting but I was impressed with the whole hearted sincerity and friendly tone in which The GNU Manifesto was written. I've considered the points of both authors, but would have to disagree with Lancashire. He admits that hostility toward Microsoft propelled a portion of the open source movement. I'm sure it did initially, but I don't think hostility toward a corporation is what fuels that flame. I can see Stallman's point with a little more clarity. A programmer is able to make new friends and contacts by sharing programs with his fellow programmer. I can see how corporate software has undermined this basic necessity. Their various clauses and agreements put an end not only to sharing but even speaking to another programmer about a project. This divided programmers based on the corporate masters that they chose to serve.

Stallman acknowledges the need to make a living, and states with certainty that programmers will still be able to work on projects that will make money for them. They won't make as much since they will be contributing with other programmers instead of working for a corporation that basis its money making ability on copyright and proprietary rights. Since I believe him when he says that he has found many programmers who are excited by GNU software, I think that for the most part programmers have encountered some nastiness from previous employers and have seen first hand how isolated their corporation has made them. I agree with Stallman that there are a percentage of programmers who are refreshed by the sense of community that GNU offers and willingly accept less money.

Lancashire paints a picture of a programmer who sees his job as a way to make money. He sees them as participants in a gift economy as long as they are making a buck. They seem to boast share and share alike until they no longer get a paycheck, then they're off to the next paying gig without glancing back. I can see the benefits of open source and of being proprietary. I think that open source is on a basic level the definition of communism,but I like their style. I'm sure there are also plenty of programmers who work for corporations without feeling isolated,threatened, or compromised.

In an oversimplified way, programmers program to support themselves. I can believe Richard Stallman's expanded idea on this statement. While programmers make at living by programming, I know that there are individuals who are just drawn to programming and coding. I know this because there are individuals, like myself, who write fiction, not for a book deal, but for the fulfillment that writing provides in our lives. In my writing group there are published and non-published authors alike. The authors that are published firmly believe that if their agents or editors dropped them today, they would continue with their writing regardless. Us non-published people think book deals,agents, and editors are great but recognize that underlying truth that they pointed out.

I am not a programmer, but I do enjoy wiring various devices and have networked my parents and friends houses. I haven't learned networking in my formal education yet but instead taught myself through various books and internet resources. I love to connect coaxial cable and splice wires. I am one of the few who sees the beauty of fiber optic cables. It's made of glass and carries light impulses. The imagery in that description has a dreamy and fragile feeling that occurs when thinking of two separate elements like glass and light working in unison. This one activity in my life is my own convincing example of how programmers will program because that's what they do. Stallman's assessment seems to ring true because of its portability. You can take that statement and apply it to any activity. You'll find, at the very least, two types of individuals. There are those that do it for the money and there are those who are drawn to it and do it because they love it.



Credit given where credit is due: Lets all renounce the old story of MLA citation. Its time is over. Hyper-text is cleaner.
Code, Culture, and Cash: The Fading Altruism of Open Source Development About David Lancashire

The GNU Manifesto
About Richard Stallman