[OpenLayers-Users] OpenLayers Book

[Tim Schaub]

Hey-

Christopher Schmidt wrote:
> On Tue, Jan 13, 2009 at 02:31:14PM -0800, Chip Taylor wrote:
>> Just curious about your statement "I don't think we should take it upon
>> ourselves to waste beautiful Saturdays generating documentation for free
>> (person opinion)."  Why would you "waste your beautiful Saturdays"
>> generating code for free then?
> 
> I think the same sentiment applies to code. The idea is that there
> should not be an expectation from the community that all this hard work
> comes for free -- a sentiment that many seem to express. (In fact, this
> whole thread started off by someone volunteering me to write a book.)
> 
>>  Open Source is cool, Open Source is fun but
>> there has to be a reason for a person to make that effort to develop the
>> software.  Most times that reason is the pride in a job well done and the
>> appreciation one feels when you see your efforts being used.  
> 
> And sometimes, it needs to be more than that. In other words, "If you
> really love the software, support it: financially, documentation wise,
> code wise, or whatever, rather than expecting things to magically happen
> from the people who have supported the project in the past."
> 
> I can't speak for Tim directly here, but that is the impression I get. 
> 

Exactly.

And we're largely responsible for propagating this expectation 
ourselves.  Whether it is based on a desire for recognition, "love" of 
the software, or an impression that we are taking part in a grand 
philanthropic mission, our dedication to this project has resulted in an 
expectation that it moves without effort.

I've seen this result in a couple things:
  1) exhaustion, and
  2) strained relations (based on the feeling that others aren't doing 
their part).

Basically, I think this is BS.  This is software worth paying for.  The 
people making significant contributions (code or docs) should be 
compensated for their efforts.

Obviously, nobody should be discouraged from volunteering.  But the 
expectation should not be that the project runs on volunteer effort.

Tim


> Regards,


-- 
Tim Schaub
OpenGeo - http://opengeo.org
Expert service straight from the developers.