shite@unf7.UUCP (Stephen Hite) (12/14/90)
To Thomas (my mail always bounces to you so I'm making this public):
I have a few thoughts concerning the news brought out in this newsgroup
that there are some people who would like to offer you money in the future
and result in you discontinuing work on your freely distributable server:
1. Think about what their motivations are. Are they really interested
in *just* your talents or realizing that they are killing two birds with
one stone. That is, they get a great programmer and make money and they
get any future work done by you off the "open" market and save money. For
example, I will no longer buy a commercial X server because there is
no way they can make it better than yours.
2. You have a NAME for yourself now in the world. You can command a high
salary *without* having to compromise your continued work on your server.
There definitely IS money to made with your abilities but I think you
are looking in the narrow sense of this one project. The broader sense
is that you are worth a lot to a company because you are a good problem
solver. You can take extremely technical problems and find good
innovative solutions in a short amount of time.
3. I urge you to e-mail other well-known Usenet programmers who have
freely distributable software. Ask *them* what they have gained from
the experience(s), if they are happy and why they continue to do it.
For example, ask Larry Wall (patch, Configure, Perl) or Keith Gorlen
(NIH OOP library) if they would exchange all of the new friends they've
met (and continue to meet), their nice low-pressure working conditions
the notoriety, the prestige, etc. for just more money. I think you'll
find that they find ways to make some extra money (i.e. books)
without trading their ideals for money. Oh yeah, ask them also if
get to go home at 5 o'clock to be with their families instead of being
pressured to work overtime or have managers bugging them with phone
calls or standing (figuratively) over their shoulder.
3. You inspire others to do benelovent things. As you know, I'm going
to freely distribute your server to those who do not have FTP capability.
I am not copying hundreds of floppy disks for my health. If I can
make others happy through my efforts and make a new Net friend or two
then it's been well worth the effort.
4. Be dubious of anyone who tells you they can get you in touch with the
"right" people. They may not be "right" for you.
In brief, you don't *have to* sell your ideals for more money. Many
have gone before you and have managed to have a lifestyle that is rich
in friends, exciting work and, yes, money, too. You can have all of these
things and never produce a "free" line of code but then you will have changed
your ideals and how you look at "the software community", haven't you?
It's a tough decision Thomas...good luck in whatever you decide to do!
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Steve Hite
UUCP: ...uunet!gatech!uflorida!unf7!shite
Internet: shite@sinkhole.unf.edu