Open Source Kumbaya in 2020: Pay Me for Support
November 16, 2020
I read “No, Open Source Does Not Mean Includes Free Support.” The write up illustrates one small change in the open source community in the last five or six years. With more and more organizations using open source software as the engine for their “platform” or “system”, individuals who create open source software are shifting. For example, when we worked on the Lucene Revolution conference years ago, there was a lot of talk about the community, the FOSS spirit, the desire to break free of the chains proprietary software vendors locked to licensees, etc.
Compare that kumbaya approach to this statement in the write up:
Don’t get me wrong. I’m happy to help. Selling support is what keeps the lights on here (did I mention the cost of running a web server?). But coming to me under false pretense and/or expecting that I must provide free service on top of a software I gave away without charge is not going to win you any favors. It stops being free, when it starts costing me! My time is valuable. If you want a piece of it, I want money in return. Period.
This is an excellent point. In my own experience, we know that some high profile products would not exist without open source software. In fact, some vendors do not reveal the extent of their dependence on software which can be downloaded and used without providing so much as an email address, let alone a credit card.
Net net: 2020 may become the year in which open source kumbaya is replaced with a different ethos. Come by here but bring a way to pay.
Stephen E Arnold, November 16, 2020
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