Hello all,

I am in the process of writing an essay piece for possible publication concerning the philosophy behind the open source movement within the computer realm and how this philosophy is applicable to many aspects of the techno-industrial society we live in. Essentially, it is a piece in which I take what is occurring within the open source/ closed source software situation and use it as an example of what is occurring in the grand scheme of things on this planet.
I wish to converse with as many of you active participants in this dynamic movement as possible. My primary question is this:

What are your biggest motivations as you put your time and energy into the development of open source software?

I'd like to know what it is that drives you to program, to contribute, to participate. What is your general philosophy on the whole situation?

Any and all answers to this inquiry will be greatly appreciated.

Thank you, and keep up the good work.

Hi there, and welcome to LQ...

I'd suggest reading Stallman's essays on
Open Source, they are available in print,
and I'm quite certain that googling will
point you to on-line version, too.
http://www.stallman.org/

Then there's Eric Raymond's homepage
which has a host of information and relevant
links...
http://www.catb.org/~esr/

My motivation to be here and help people
with linux is that I can't stand MS :} and never
could, since the days of MS-DOS 3. Their
products, the "ideals" behind their marketing
and their service make me want to throw up. :)

I don't think that linux in it's current manifestation
is the best possible product, but I sure as hell
know that it's the best thing available, and it's
free, which is a major bonus :} and makes it
worthwhile to support it.

Cheers,
Tink

You may find the FLOSS raport useful: http://www.infonomics.nl/FLOSS/report/index.htm
Many developers were asked similar questions to the ones you ask.

My own motivation to have fun. It's fun to help people, it's fun to participate in other ways. I like freedom and the idea of sharing ideas.