On Wed, Sep 23, 2009 at 04:36, Antoine Pitrou <solip...@pitrou.net> wrote: > Brett Cannon <brett <at> python.org> writes: >> >> Trust me, if you are doing open source for >> anything other than altruistic reasons you are bound to be >> disappointed. > > I'm surprised by this statement but perhaps it's a matter of vocabulary. > Having fun and doing things you like to do does not strike me as "altruistic". > Being involved in a FOSS project is not the same as participating in a > charity. > > See this quick presentation about motivation of FOSS developers (second slide > says: "Altruism? Not really"): > http://www.infonomics.nl/FLOSS/papers/20030619/index.htm > The full study is at: > http://www.infonomics.nl/FLOSS/report/index.htm > ("Part IV: Survey of Developers") > > (but of course there's the question of whether "altruism" exists at large, or > is > a political and moral fiction)
Ignoring the temptation to pull out my philosophy degree and devolve into a ridiculously involved conversation, I meant "altruism" in regard to not expecting to get anything from others for what you do. I do think you should only do open source work if you have fun and enjoy it, but I also think you should not do it for anyone but yourself unless you are drawing a paycheck. -Brett _______________________________________________ Python-Dev mailing list Python-Dev@python.org http://mail.python.org/mailman/listinfo/python-dev Unsubscribe: http://mail.python.org/mailman/options/python-dev/archive%40mail-archive.com
