On Fri, Jun 22, 2012 at 09:24:57AM -0500, Reid Linnemann wrote: > On Thu, Jun 21, 2012 at 11:27 PM, Chad Perrin <per...@apotheon.com> wrote: > > I disagree with the assessment by others that FreeBSD is in some way > > effectively a subsidiary of its corporate users, but it does have > > corporate users, as well as non-corporate users. Just as it must > > reasonably see to the needs of the individuals who use it, so must it > > also reasonably see to the needs of those corporate users, especially > > when some of those corporate users' employees are key developers for the > > base system (to the significant benefit of the rest of us). Thus, saying > > that a particular set of conditions having an impact on commercial > > sponsors of FreeBSD has "zero bearing on FreeBSD itself" is just . . . > > incorrect. > > And I would like to stress on this point that, when I referred to > corporate sponsorship in an earlier post, I was thinking specifically > about the sponsorship of employing developers that keep the system > moving forward, not necessarily monetary donations. The foundation > does need money, but the software is doomed if no one is gainfully > employed to maintain and enhance it. I think there is an altruistic > fiction that many people subscribe to that free software is merely the > result of the generosity of developers producing code of their own > volition and on their own spare time and "giving it away," and from > that viewpoint the act of considering concerns of a sponsoring entity > amounts to "selling out." The reality is much different and much more > complex, as you well know.
Indeed. When I contribute to an open source project, as an individual, much the same factors apply. I do not do it to help someone like Michel Talon, or even Reid Linnemann; I do it to help myself, by improving software I like, or to help people who in turn work to improve software I like. I have selfish goals that are served by my support of well- designed copyfree software, whether that support is financial in nature, a contribution of development effort, or something less direct. -- Chad Perrin [ original content licensed OWL: http://owl.apotheon.org ] _______________________________________________ freebsd-questions@freebsd.org mailing list http://lists.freebsd.org/mailman/listinfo/freebsd-questions To unsubscribe, send any mail to "freebsd-questions-unsubscr...@freebsd.org"
