Why do open source software developers write code for free?
One of the things that has always fascinated me is how people do not understand why developers write code for free. I can't tell you how many people I've explained open source software to – only to have them get stuck on the "yes, but why are these guys writing this software? Don't they have anything better to do?" I explain that they write the software:
- "to scratch an itch",
- to fix a problem they've had or a problem they've seen,
- or to create a solution for their kids.
I also try to explain that people that write code really enjoy writing code but I've pretty much given up on that one. Unfortunately, I think most people don't believe that you can enjoy something you do for a living. They particularly don't understand that coding is not only fun but very addictive.
So given that writing code is free and most open source software developers started writing open source code for their own personal reasons, how does the fact that most open source software developers are now paid change things?
A year or two ago I ran across a study that terrified me. The study found that if you pay people to do something they've been doing out of love, when you quit paying them, they'll quit. Does that mean that all the people that now have full time jobs working on open source software would quit if they didn't get paid anymore? That's a scary thought. It's been followed up with a lot of related studies about motivation from open source software bounties to day care center late fines.
In this blog I'm going to be exploring what motivates open source software developers to work on open source software and how monetary rewards may change that for better or worse. Feel free to jump in!
It think this question about motivation in the open source community is central to understanding how the community works. I don’t fully understand it myself, except to say that “contributing to a community” seems to be more inspiring than making money. In fact, maybe the fame, recognition and appreciation that comes with community contribution is more emotionally satisfying to people than having more money.
It all sounds rather virtuous, and maybe that’s what makes people skeptical about Open Source: people working for the good of humanity? to give instead of receive? I think the open source/free software ideals have tapped into something more powerful than money and that is, community -social involvement. Developers aren’t really working for nothing, they’re actually working for something bigger than the supposedly “almighty buck”. I mean, it’s got to be something that really motivates people because how else can one explain how advanced the open sourced software has become already?
I agree – they are motivated. It’s just not a financial motivation.
It’s somewhat similar (but not the same) as traditional volunteering. A lot of people volunteer because they think they are supposed to give back. I volunteer to help people but I also enjoy the experience itself – I usually get to learn new things, meet new people, … not to mention feeling good about myself! Those are all non-monetary motivations.
“Does that mean that all the people that now have full time jobs working on open source software would quit if they didn’t get paid anymore? That’s a scary thought.”
I’m not sure that’s as scary as it sounds. In my experience, if you don’t ever pay people to do something that they’re doing out of love (like open-source programming), they’ll often quit too. People’s interests change; they do something for a while and then move on to something else. And I wouldn’t be at all surprised if a lot of what’s happening is people who are paid for their work stay on a project a little longer than they would if it was purely volunteer, so the time when they quit is pushed a little later to when they stop getting paid — and that overall they’re quitting the projects no more often than never-paid people quit.
I expect that’s especially true if you measure by the hours people spend on a project, rather than the years during which they’re working on it.
As for me, one of the reasons I maintain a LaTeX package is the deep satisfaction in getting emails that say, “Thank you for finding a fix for this bug; it was breaking my dissertation, and it isn’t now.”
Most people get into open source, not because of love, but to fix or fit a need that is not there. It generally stems from someone who is working for a company and needs to build something and wishes to share some code to make it grow. A majority of open source projects start this way. After community is established, it begins to have a life of its own, where people contribute based on need. People who quit open source is not because they are paid, but just the opposite. I can give you many examples of people who left because they no longer have time to support and develop during the night. Nearly everyone in open source I know, it is their dream job to be paid to work on open source. There certainly is nothing wrong with getting paid for doing something you love. But, yes, I were to stop getting paid to write open source, I would likely leave the arena, because I still have to put food on the table and pay the mortgage, an dthere are only so many hours in the day.