Re:Cracks are showing in Enterprise Open Source's foundations
by muricula on Thursday January 28, 2021 @05:48PM
(#25950638)
Do you listen to National Public Radio in the US? They broadcast all of their content for free on FM radio, and then ask for donations a couple times a year. Does that feel manipulative to you? Genuine question, because to me that doesn't seem that different the developers holding out their hat after releasing an open source library.
Re:Cracks are showing in Enterprise Open Source's foundations
by 5560675260 on Friday January 29, 2021 @08:55AM
(#25957228)
It really depends on how they do it. Do they try to guilt trip you into giving donations? Or act indignant and insult their listeners when cash runs dry? I don't have experience with NPR, but my guess is no.
Edit: I think the main difference is having or not having an expectation that you will be paid later for something that was provided for free.
I'm glad someone brought this up. When a developer (or artist, or musician, or other creative person) gives away their work for free, that is fine by me. But when they later hold out their hat and say, "by the way, I worked really hard on that and I'm a nice person, would you mind paying for it now?" that's when I feel like I'm being manipulated. If you wanted money for it, you should have just said up front instead of tossing the guilt trip in at the end.
I do appreciate Jeff's enthusiasm for technology and he's done some cool stuff. I would totally hire him for a consulting gig if I were in a position to do so. But he's part of this "give stuff away for free and beg for money later" culture that rubs me the wrong way.