I've just had a meeting. The topic of today was finding a way to replace a software tool in use in some random area of a client. It's a testing tool but they have tweaked it to become a robot, like say AutoIt. Not that I'm against of new uses for software but, really, using a testing application to create robots to manage windows created by your own code instead of using a batch process is a little bit over the top. But I digress as the problem, of course, is other.
The problem is money. Licenses in fact. The issue is they're paying some royalties to another company (one that develops and sells software) and they're uncomfortable with the situation. Nobody says it like that and so the official excuse is the programming language of the scripts, VBA. But nonetheless, it's obvious to everybody.
And so they've asked me if I knew of any Open Source library written in Java, free (as in beer) with a good community (support is crucial remember?) that could handle their use case. Right there I stopped paying attention. I have some wishes myself.
But, at least, I got something positive out of it. I got to think about why and/or how have we reached this situation? The outlook is indeed grim. Somehow nobody feels like paying for software anymore. Everybody expects to find some OSS project out there that resolves all kind of problems but, of course, just a minority of people (let alone enterprises!) consider donating code or contributing to any project. And worst, probably us (open source developers) have helped to create this kind of environment. Right now, Open Source and gratis are synonyms in the mind of many people. What was that about birds and beers? Heck, nobody really cares.
Even worse is the disgrace that plagues the OSS world: whining users. Because too soon free is not enough and people demand more and more and more. Bandwith, documentation, examples, a forum, mailing lists, developers to answer promptly their question, enhancements, side projects...you name it. Sorry, I forgot to mention, free again.
So our work and time is now expected to be altruist...and then cost us something in the process. But it never works the same the other way around. Sadly, it's sometimes becoming a burden. Too hefty.
A rhetorical question, when will people awake and realize this is unsustainable? I've notice a trend, each year less and less people choose Computer Science as their studies. Can't help but think that they are not that wrong.
The problem is money. Licenses in fact. The issue is they're paying some royalties to another company (one that develops and sells software) and they're uncomfortable with the situation. Nobody says it like that and so the official excuse is the programming language of the scripts, VBA. But nonetheless, it's obvious to everybody.
And so they've asked me if I knew of any Open Source library written in Java, free (as in beer) with a good community (support is crucial remember?) that could handle their use case. Right there I stopped paying attention. I have some wishes myself.
But, at least, I got something positive out of it. I got to think about why and/or how have we reached this situation? The outlook is indeed grim. Somehow nobody feels like paying for software anymore. Everybody expects to find some OSS project out there that resolves all kind of problems but, of course, just a minority of people (let alone enterprises!) consider donating code or contributing to any project. And worst, probably us (open source developers) have helped to create this kind of environment. Right now, Open Source and gratis are synonyms in the mind of many people. What was that about birds and beers? Heck, nobody really cares.
Even worse is the disgrace that plagues the OSS world: whining users. Because too soon free is not enough and people demand more and more and more. Bandwith, documentation, examples, a forum, mailing lists, developers to answer promptly their question, enhancements, side projects...you name it. Sorry, I forgot to mention, free again.
So our work and time is now expected to be altruist...and then cost us something in the process. But it never works the same the other way around. Sadly, it's sometimes becoming a burden. Too hefty.
A rhetorical question, when will people awake and realize this is unsustainable? I've notice a trend, each year less and less people choose Computer Science as their studies. Can't help but think that they are not that wrong.
3 comentarios:
Changes already started when Microsoft started donating stuff to the Linux community :)
Jose,
Your open source work has been admirable. I too feel your pain. Especially with the recent changes with DWR, and the fact that it is impossible to live up to the expectations that Joe set for the project - through his countless hours of dedication.
At the end of the day I am positive about the situation because I enjoy working on the project and I have a passion for it. And while that passion remains I will keep trying to do my best and not allow those that are critical to destroy it.
Jose,
Your open source work has been admirable. I too feel your pain. Especially with the recent changes with DWR, and the fact that it is impossible to live up to the expectations that Joe set for the project - through his countless hours of dedication.
At the end of the day I am positive about the situation because I enjoy working on the project and I have a passion for it. And while that passion remains I will keep trying to do my best and not allow those that are critical to destroy it.
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