I can’t claim to be a software developer. I’ve built some plugins and an extension, and a few other little things here and there. But I still don’t feel like I am a developer. Perhaps I never will. Nonetheless, I feel I have at least a bit of insight into the process. Or maybe that I’m a little entitled to it. With that in mind…
The perception, from my side of things, is “Hey – that’s cool. Thanks for the effort!” (or at least something along those lines – it doesn’t have to be exact, and more groveling would certainly be nice, as well as monetary rewards and everlasting fame).
Reality, however, is very different. It’s more like “Moron. It needs to do something else.” or even “I can’t figure it out. Tell me how to do it because I can’t understand. Pay you for your time? Why should I have to do that?”
What I really don’t get is why. Perhaps I should charge for everything. At least then there would be something for the trouble. Give it away and people always want more and get upset at you if you don’t give it to them. That’s just too much hassle. Perhaps this will just take a backseat to other things. It just isn’t worth it.
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4 responses to “Perception and Reality”
>> Pay you for your time?
>> Why should I have to do that?
Big companies like Google, Yahoo and others are giving away so much for free that the people do really wonder, “Why should I have to…”. But the people don’t understand that these companies are part of the mechanism (called Market) that translates the goodwill into bottomline (called profit). The guys like you (and me too?) are not part of that system and hence charge the users. Simple. But difficult to convince.
Considering the alternative, I would hope so.
Heh. Ted, are you trying to say that I’m getting older? 🙂
I have always wondered how public source software could survive. As one gets older, one realizes just how little time there is and one finds it more precious. Anything given away free is not valued by the recipient.