Comment Open Source And Programmer's Rights (Score 1) 596
It seems to me that open source is not about getting programmers to work for free. Some will and that's fine. Some won't or can't afford too.
The issue is convincing companies to pay programmers to write code that they will then give away. Developing those incentives and business models is where the open source movement should concentrate thier efforts.
Busineses all over are discovering the benefits of using open source, getting them to understand the benefits of creating it is hard.
For the programmer writing the code open source software gives them more ownership of it than they would typically have in a closed source development company. If you are a developer at Microsoft, I don't think they let you leave with the source you created. If you work on an open source project, even as a low level worker bee, you never loose the right to your own work product. Even if you take a little less in your pocket that has to be worth something. Of course its probably another big reason why companies dont like to pay people to create open source code....
The issue is convincing companies to pay programmers to write code that they will then give away. Developing those incentives and business models is where the open source movement should concentrate thier efforts.
Busineses all over are discovering the benefits of using open source, getting them to understand the benefits of creating it is hard.
For the programmer writing the code open source software gives them more ownership of it than they would typically have in a closed source development company. If you are a developer at Microsoft, I don't think they let you leave with the source you created. If you work on an open source project, even as a low level worker bee, you never loose the right to your own work product. Even if you take a little less in your pocket that has to be worth something. Of course its probably another big reason why companies dont like to pay people to create open source code....
