Difference between revisions of "Developer Motivations"
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Note: I didn't write down in which article these reasons came up. And some of these came up multiple times in different articles. I think the first 5 are the more popular explanations for why developers drift to OS projects. | Note: I didn't write down in which article these reasons came up. And some of these came up multiple times in different articles. I think the first 5 are the more popular explanations for why developers drift to OS projects. | ||
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+ | [[User:Jruderman|Jesse Ruderman]]: | ||
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+ | -Impact. One of the reasons I contribute to the Mozilla project is that a lot of people use it or will use it. I feel that it is my duty to use my skills to improve the lives of user as much as I can. | ||
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+ | -Resume building. I've gotten some nice internship and job offers, and I point that out to friends when I try to convince them to join me in the Mozilla project, but I don't think that's a large part of why I contribute. | ||
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+ | -Religion. The writings that inspired me to contribute to Mozilla (http://del.icio.us/jesser/why ?) had a common theme: Mozilla is essential for the future of Linux and open-source in general. Ironically, I still use Windows. |
Revision as of 13:17, 22 November 2004
Main Author: Gail Frederick
Links to Papers Regarding Developer Motivations
http://noframes.linuxjournal.com/article/4915
Interesting Quotes on Developer Motivations
Discussion on Developer Motivations
Richard Michaelson: (11/13/04) Here's a running list of supply-side explanations for individuals' (and firms') contributions to OS:
-as a hobby (“simply for the pleasure of doing so”)
-post-scarcity gift economy (which, at heart, is not based on classical economic theory, and instead, suggests an entirely non-economic explanation for human behavior)
-hacker ethics
-Lerner and Tirole’s: individuals participate only if they expect a net benefit, viewing their contribution as a means (ego-boosting, reputation, etc) to an end, which is fundamentally economic or commercial
-“scratch an itch”
-in opposition to Microsoft
-Natural outgrowth of free speech
-Open source software is more beneficial to society
-Flexibility and configurability
Note: I didn't write down in which article these reasons came up. And some of these came up multiple times in different articles. I think the first 5 are the more popular explanations for why developers drift to OS projects.
-Impact. One of the reasons I contribute to the Mozilla project is that a lot of people use it or will use it. I feel that it is my duty to use my skills to improve the lives of user as much as I can.
-Resume building. I've gotten some nice internship and job offers, and I point that out to friends when I try to convince them to join me in the Mozilla project, but I don't think that's a large part of why I contribute.
-Religion. The writings that inspired me to contribute to Mozilla (http://del.icio.us/jesser/why ?) had a common theme: Mozilla is essential for the future of Linux and open-source in general. Ironically, I still use Windows.