Vendor Pays OSS Developers for Enterprise Support 73
Anonymous Coward writes "eWeek is reporting that a company called OpenLogic is paying qualified experts in the open-source community to provide enterprise support for projects they are intimately familiar with. OpenLogic calls its new initiative its Expert Community program."
NOT paying. (Score:1, Informative)
QUOTE :
OpenLogic is looking for the best and brightest open source developers to join the OpenLogic Expert Community. As a thank you for their time, Open Logic Expert Community members can earn points redeemable for rewards in the OpenLogic Rewards program. Learn more about the OpenLogic Expert Community and the OpenLogic Rewards program.
Are you sure? (Score:3, Informative)
From the OpenLogic Community FAQ [openlogic.com]:
Re:Are you sure? (Score:5, Insightful)
On a side note- anyone else find it amusing that the big reward they're pimping out is an MS product?
Pls, Mod parent UP. (Score:1)
Re:Are you sure? (Score:2, Flamebait)
Don't beleive me? (Score:1, Insightful)
Employer: Wahoo Docks Division: Information Technology Job Title: Software Programmer Description: This position will work with our existing IT professional to supplement the development of our in-house developed MIS system, develop new software to be used with our operations, and to monitor, expand and build on our existing Web Sites. In short, we need additional support with our software as we are continually developing new products and require faster lead times
To the nit - fucking - pickers... (Score:1)
...everybody woke up, (Score:1)
so what was your point? You and the parent post are longing for the "good ol' days"?!
Re:Don't beleive me? (Score:2)
The skill requirements as listed ARE entry level and 30-40k sounds about right for your random freshly minted college graduate.
Re:Don't beleive me? (Score:2)
Re:Don't beleive me? (Score:2)
Re:Are you sure? (Score:2)
Re:Are you sure? (Score:2)
I do charge for my work, good money too. If I am doing it for others.
When I do it for myself, not always. That said, the amount that I have saved versus PAYING for every last piece of code on each and every one of my boxes makes me come out ahead in any case.
Perhaps you might think a little deeper about economics yourself.
all the
Re:Are you sure? (Score:2)
Re:Are you sure? (Score:2)
I suspect a lot of people working on open source projects aren't thinking on a pay/hour basis, since they're getting $0. I also doubt anyone is going to try to make real money off this -- if they wanted to, they'd be working as an independent
just to quibble (Score:1)
Would it be worth it? Probably not. But they are being 'paid' in the form of goods.
Bollocks (Score:5, Informative)
The press release says in fact: and: And (slightly offtopic, but put more elequontly & humorously then the usual 'blah blah, oss has noone to sue'): You sir, are a shill from one of the proprietary companies, trembling in their boots about new business models.
Re:Bollocks (Score:2)
Re:Bollocks (Score:4, Informative)
So $25 an hour or more. Not exactly inspiring, but not bad either, especially if it was shit you were going to fix in the next release anyway.
Re:Bollocks (Score:1)
Re:Bollocks (Score:2)
As an employee in the marketing department of a business that has a loyalty card program, I am curious; What gave you the impression that you would get back a dollar for each dollar spent? Do you normally assume that companies will pay all your bills, or is this something you reserve for carded loyalty programs? Inquiring minds want to know.
I'm mostly just curious because we, too, give one point per dollar spent. Our conversion rate is definitely multiple points to the dollar - and a bunch of 'em, too.
Re:Bollocks (Score:2)
Re:Bollocks (Score:1)
For one, it's already kinda low. They aren't going to attract the people they want to attract with lower rates.
As other people have pointed out, your example isn't really very good, since they never said you'd get back all the money you spent.
They probably call it points in an attempt to get people to use it on the items instead of cash, since those probably cost them less and have less tax implications.
Re:Bollocks (Score:1)
Re:NOT paying. (Score:2)
You will get paid! (Score:2, Informative)
Re:You will get paid! (Score:1)
Re:You will get paid! (Score:2)
Re:You will get paid! (Score:2)
Ok so you figured by adding that layer of complexity in the middle there with these "points" that you would completely confuse the subpar intelligence of the beast known as wife. So like she'll be sitting there looking at her living room full of geeks playing oblivion and snorting coke all over her couch, looking back and forth from the points to the cash or xbox 360 options... back
Re:You will get paid! (Score:1)
The X-Box, because you can never have too many.
Rebutting the myths (Score:1)
Re:Rebutting the myths (Score:2)
Also does it not rebutt the myth that if you have the code you can easily maintain and improve it yourself?
Re:Rebutting the myths (Score:2)
No more than the existence of Dell, eMachines, and other PC manufacturers rebuts the "myth" that if you have access to computer components, you can easily build and upgrade a computer yourself.
Re:Rebutting the myths (Score:2)
Re:Rebutting the myths (Score:1)
This ad hoc approach seems to fit in well with the whole open source approach,
for areas where a smaller amount of expert support is required. It seems to be
a welcome addition to the employee or consultant roles.
The myth that you can easily maintain the code is rebutted very quickly in
the mind of anyone actually trying to do it.
Improving or adapting code can often be done, particularly on the smaller projects,
depending on the architecture of the code base you
Re:Rebutting the myths (Score:5, Insightful)
It proves the truth that if you have access to the code you can easily maintain and improve it yourself by paying someone to do it for you. Or did you think that simply having the code automatically makes everyone a programmer? Or (more likely) are you deliberately misinterpreting this "myth" to make some snarky straw-man point? In any case, your comment made me laugh my ass off and now I need to "rebutt" myself.
Re:Rebutting the myths (Score:1)
Re:Rebutting the myths (Score:2)
Re:Rebutting the myths (Score:1, Troll)
Re:Rebutting the myths (Score:3, Insightful)
2. The question was about OSS and making money, which is still argely unproven. Whether or not OSS provides better advancement in software in general is a point that can be argued, but whether or not it can make money can't be argued at this point: By and large, OSS does NOT make money.
Re:Rebutting the myths (Score:2)
Re:Rebutting the myths (Score:2)
-Rick
yeah, sure (Score:2)
Another posted put it best "like tickets at an arcade
Earn Points...Claim Valuable Prizes (Score:5, Funny)
From their website:
In other words, no, you're not going to get paid for helping. You will receive 10 Bazooka Joe comics for each Apache installation, and 5 Chuck E. Cheese tickets per debugged line of code.
Wow, redundant *and* wrong! (Score:3, Informative)
Re:Earn Points...Claim Valuable Prizes (Score:1)
Tickets!?!???! (Score:2, Funny)
Re:Earn Points...Claim Valuable Prizes (Score:2, Funny)
As a progressive, forward-looking individual, I scoff at all you reactionaries espousing your quote-unqoute "efficient markets" and "capitalist systems." What this world really needs is an accelerated advancement toward the economics of the future: barter.
Just think, I could earn twenty Betty Boop comics for some httpd.conf work and give them to some institution - say, a "bank" - in exchange for a piece of paper granting the bearer twenty Betty Boop comics. Then, we could all happily wear burlap sacks a
Re:Earn Points...Claim Valuable Prizes (Score:3, Interesting)
Ok, as someone said, you can trade in your points for cash. This begs the question of why the company would do this. This would have to add overhead to maintain the site for cashing points, providing gifts, etc. Why not just give you the money?
My guess is that if they give you points, then you redeem them for things (including cash), you will be taxed the Gift Tax rate of approximately 40% and the company will not be required to pay various taxes that they have to pay for regular employees.
Opensource payment for developers (Score:2, Insightful)
The reason for this is the "time cost" of having to "talk" to American developers, whereas for offshore support, nothing you say is understood, so you bypass the "communication" or "talking" aspect of things.
U send me ur non paying outsourced job plz.
This is just cheap labor (Score:3)
Wow. So they charge big bucks an hour, and we get a shiny xbox!
What idiot accepted this article?
finally, is official (Score:1)
Legal Agreement (Score:3, Insightful)
Wow, why didn't anyone think of this before? A compensation program that is subject to change at will... I only need to usually make my house payment anyway.
A step towards an entirely open community ... (Score:2)
This is a great way to get enterprise support! (Score:2)
I wonder if OpenLogic takes coupons and IOUs as payment in lieu of cash? (Don't laugh too hard; many class-action suits end with the plantiffs getting coupons.)
From the EULA (or 'OpenLogic ECA') (Score:3, Informative)
'Assignments may be bugs, errors, problems or other issues associated with open source projects. OpenLogic will post assignments on the Committed Community website located at www.________.com '
(their underscores, not mine)
'If you develop any source code or other material as part of any assignment, you agree that you will provide a copy of the source code or other materials to OpenLogic.You also agree to assign to OpenLogic joint ownership in any and all worldwide copyrights, moral rights and other proprietary and intellectual property rights you have in the source code or other materials'
XBox 360 - no thanks. (Score:3, Insightful)
In addition, as an introductory offer, if you are one of the first 75 people to join the OpenLogic Expert Community, you will receive an Xbox 360 once you resolve your first issue.
Which part of their market research made them think I'd want a Microsoft TOY as a reward for my expertise?
A Service no one needs. (Score:2)
Yes.
If I wanna do some Real Time 3D thing I need Ton Roosendaal and the Blender Crew?
Right.
Do I need this company?
No.
To me it just looks like some shop trying to feed of the OSS community. This might be attrative for someone who's good at coding but can't market himself. But from what I can tell all those people at project leads are doing perfectly well in doing business all by themselves.
more greedy middle-men (Score:2)
Look at the scammy behaviour prompted by google's adsense money or yahoo and overtures' click bounties and "alliances" promoting spyware spammers and ad farms and search engine abuse. I even just got a spam of a monster.com job offer; apparently due to some kind of reward which is motivating people to spam their job postings around. "work at home"
"One throat to choke" (Score:1)
People having been using this phrase a lot lately. I always ask them "Are you quoting Carl Panzram [wikipedia.org] or Caligula [wikipedia.org]?"
"I wish you all had one neck, and my hands were around it." -- Carl Panzram
"Utinam populus Romanus unam cervicem haberet!" (I wish the Roman people had one throat) -- C