Speaking of Open Source, if I may ask. I am a Java/J2EE developer wants to enhance my skills by working on a Open Source project. Where can I start ? How much of time/day should I be willing to spending on average to be fair to the project. Please advice.
Thanks, Ariva. -----Original Message----- From: [EMAIL PROTECTED] [mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] Behalf Of Conrad F. D'Cruz Sent: Sunday, February 29, 2004 1:32 PM To: Research Triangle Java User's Group mailing list. Subject: Re: [Juglist] Why is volunteering for open source a badthing?(wasTechEngage III) Michael Silverstein wrote: > These are two different topics. But anyway, I agree that the opportunity > to acquire technology for free for the purpose of learning is a very > clear benefit. Actually I was not referring to the acquisition of technology for free or without paying!! Besides open source ... there are other "unique" and "innovative" ways of doing that -- most of which are illegal!! I was talking about the experience one can get by contributing to the development of an open source project. > As to the first point, it is often the case that when you give something > away for free you build an expectation in the market that it will always > be free. The exception is where you build up a dependency, and then > start charging. Drugs come to mind, "your first hit is free but the next > one we charge for". Since this is not likely to happen with software > there is a possibility that over time as more software becomes free or > very inexpensive it may drive the overall price of software down, as > well as the price of people who make software, which the exception of > certan specialty software. Hmmm ... Strangely enough the idea of drugs did not even come to my mind!! What about demo licenses? NFRs? Most companies give the developer license away for free. Great for people who want to learn to use the tools, sharpen their skills and spruce up the resume!! Many of us use the free tool as a window into what the vendor has to offer. There are many tools that I have not become "addicted to" especially if no paying project used those tools. So while the "first hit" was free, I did not pay for the "next hit" of many of the tools ... but know that I can go back for several "free hits" if I want to -- be it open source or a vendor NFR tool. I know that is the direction the TriJUG SIG will be taking as they train the members who will be participating in the Java portion of that free training. Ultimately a fair number of those members will find paid assignments/projects to work on. Any experience they garner from working on an open source project will only help regardless whether it is configuration of the same/different tools or developing different tools. > However, there are alternative models: > > Andrew Oliver said: > > I founded a small company on the basis of my work in open source... > > Jboss... > > Andrew pointed out several valid business models built on selling > services for software that is provided for free. The cautionary note > here is that not all free software lends itself to selling services, and > not all users of software, free or otherwise, are inclined to augment > that software with services. I personally have been the beneficiary of > quite a bit of free software, yet I have not yet spent a dime on > services. I think this is the more common model. Andrew identified the need and the areas that would support the model of ... give away the software for free, but charge for customizing it. It worked for POI and works good for JBoss too. It depends on what the focus of your career is and how you market yourself. A "solutions architect" can creatively structure revenue generating offerings that blend free software with services that solve specific business problems. The value added services in these cases have very little to do with the nitty gritty of customizing a piece of software but in providing a larger solution that meets a business need. > On the other hand a company may do a better job capturing a market with > free software than they would by charging for it, and the proportion of > users who are willing to pay for services provides enough revenue to > make the whole endeavor worthwhile. Yes ... and but more often than not a consultant who offers a broader range of services than mere software customization stands a better chance of landing a project/contract. > The other cautionary note is that when you provide software without > charge you benefit members of a market who might otherwise have paid you > or your employer to do the same thing. There may be other indirect > benefits and it is important to have those clearly identified before > spending your own finite and valuable resources. This is very true and it is up to an individual to recognize their own assets and liabilities. Sometimes it comes from painful lesson learned!! Regardless it is a personal experience and cannot be taught in a classroom or seminar. > If you find a way to sell those people services or are able to be paid > by a company that does, or somehow receive some other indirect benefit > then everything works out. If not you should reconsider the arrangement. I have run across some web sites that provide "expert answers" for microsoft products (mostly configuration issues). I am not sure how successful they are at getting people to fork over $19.95/month to have OS configuration issues solved. I think something like that would probably be a working model for a few open source products/developers but I am not sure it will be tremendously successful as a business venture. > Conrad D'Cruz said: > > I think there are many problem in the IS/IT field that > > pre-date the dot com boom and bust!! It is a lot more > > involved and we cannot pin the "blame" on any one thing!! > > I don't think I was trying to say that. Economics is a vastly complex > field and it�s a good day when you can even get two economists to agree. > If you were to try to build a mathematical model of the world economy > the number of variables, if you could even identify them all, would be > staggering. ... and what ultimately works for the economists is a lot of "smoke and mirrors" :) and that's why they get paid the big bucks regardless of the state the economy is in. I think I am in the wrong line of work ... I can B.S. with the best of them ... and can even PhD (pile it higher and deeper). > I posed these questions as points to consider and also to suggest that > free software has changed the equation to the benefit of many and > possibly the detriment of some. Each of us has our own context within > the world economy. It behooves us all to understand what that context is > and whether participating in open source projects on balance benefits us > as individuals, specifically when contributing on a volunteer basis with > no clear promise or path to compensation. I do not disagree. Then again money may not be the only determining factor and there may be some latent elements of altruism involved in the equation. Who knows? As for me ... at this juncture ... I can only say ... [* Java(TM) -- to satisfy the requirements of the list to keep the discussion on this list Java based] Conrad _______________________________________________ Juglist mailing list [EMAIL PROTECTED] http://trijug.org/mailman/listinfo/juglist_trijug.org _______________________________________________ Juglist mailing list [EMAIL PROTECTED] http://trijug.org/mailman/listinfo/juglist_trijug.org
