Without Jobs, Will Open Source Suffer? 275
darthcamaro writes in with an interview with Markus Rex, Novell's top Linux exec and the former CTO of the Linux Foundation. While some open source vendors see the current economy as a boon to open source, the interview concludes with Rex's speculation on the contrary possibility. "The other thing is in both Europe and the US the rise of the unemployment rate is something that is rather unprecedented... The open source community to a certain degree is dependent on the willingness of people to contribute. We see no indication that anything might change there, but who knows? People need something to live off." Have you thought about scaling back open source work as the economy continues to contract?
Not Steve (Score:5, Funny)
Re:Not Steve (Score:4, Insightful)
lol, like we'd ever need him..
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If you've already writing OSS, and you've got the capacity to build something significant, are you going to skip it and go work on a dirt farm for a few dollars a day?
Maybe, but I expect the author of that article will be on the dirt farm first.
Re:Not Steve (Score:4, Insightful)
If you make something that is significant, people will always find a way to support you, even if the mechanisms by which they generally give that support are lacking.
Not really. There's quite a few historical examples of inventors who did not profit from the significant things they invented.
It's not enough to create something "significant", it has to be also useful for people. And frankly speaking, OSS projects way too often pursue the goals of their creators, not their users (take KDE4 as an example).
Re:Not Steve (Score:5, Funny)
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iJobs?
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I agree... but if we made him change his name, then Robert Gates needs to change his, 'cause everytime I see a story heading "Gates says..." I'm like "Why would Bill say that? And who cares?
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McGoohan would refuse 6 (I'm not sure if he'd accept 1, but he'd have to fight with Samuel L. Jackson and Chuck Norris for it), and Dick Cheney is not going to let Gates have 666 without a fight.
Maybe Gates can get 0x666 and Cheney the decimal version.
Re:Not Steve (Score:5, Interesting)
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Bill
Title case vs. sentence case (Score:5, Interesting)
After giving it some thought, I have decided that "Sentence case" is superior to "Title Case" from the viewpoint of precision. By capitalizing words in headings and titles of publications (of which there are many different ways to do it! [wikipedia.org]), information is lost as to whether a particular word was a proper noun or not.
Furthermore, there are words (capitonyms) that completely change meaning and possibly pronunciation depending on the capitalization [wikipedia.org]. For instance, "polish your shoes" vs. "eat a Polish sausage", or "measure the mass" vs. "go to Mass".
Using title case is a lossy operation.
Comment removed (Score:5, Insightful)
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Ridiculous (Score:5, Insightful)
People need something to live off
This is utterly ridiculous. It's not like work on an open source project is comparable to giving away money, or hand-built widgets. Nobody is going to say "gee, I would normally contribute this code to that open source project, but I'm unemployed, so I'll sell it to buy groceries instead."
Re:Ridiculous (Score:5, Insightful)
This is utterly ridiculous. It's not like work on an open source project is comparable to giving away money, or hand-built widgets. Nobody is going to say "gee, I would normally contribute this code to that open source project, but I'm unemployed, so I'll sell it to buy groceries instead."
No, but they might say "Gee, I would normally write a patch to fix Xorg's gonkulator, but dammit, I have to go search for a job instead."
Re:Ridiculous (Score:5, Insightful)
Except that contributions to open source projects are both good resume-fodder and a good way to get noticed by potential employers.
I know a job search is hard work, but I'm not sure it's going to take as much time as a fulltime job... meaning that much more time to play with Xorg, or whatever else.
Ridiculous Past. (Score:2)
"Except that contributions to open source projects are both good resume-fodder and a good way to get noticed by potential employers."
And how many contributors have actually gotten jobs in this recession and subsequent layoffs? Remember we're really just getting started with this downturn. The story's basically asking what if it continues on much longer? Not saying, "well in the past..."
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And how many contributors have actually gotten jobs in this recession and subsequent layoffs?
Probably very few. But it's still a better bet than if you don't have anything to show.
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If you aren't pounding the pavement and making the search for the job a full-time job...you're doing it wrong.
Re:Ridiculous (Score:4, Insightful)
I know a job search is hard work, but I'm not sure it's going to take as much time as a fulltime job
If times are tough, you've been through all the job boards and applied for anything relevant, shaked down all your friends and contacts asking if they know of any job offers, gone to every interview you've been invited to then yes. Keeping up with the daily new offers isn't really that much work, it's not a day's worth of work. "Hitting the pavement" is only good if you want to get a job as burger flipper or shop assistant, anything more serious than and you'll find the application on the web boards. If you got commitments (wife and kids, family, friends, wife's job, home with mortgage) then you can't just go across the country for whatever job might be there.
Also, employers don't want employees way outside their current skillset and normal pay grade. They know as well as you know that this is a stopgap because times are rough and come better times you'll be off to a more relevant position, most likely at another company. The more desperate you get, the less any employer is likely to hire you on those far-out applications. Of course you shouldn't just hit the couch but sometimes just waiting a little bit for reasonable jobs to show up is the right answer. Of course that all depends on what situation you're in, if you don't have a nest egg and need that job NOW, well you do what you gotta do. Even under current circumstances people aren't that desperate though.
Re:Ridiculous (Score:4, Insightful)
If anything, I usually write more open source code when I'm out of work. Even when you're putting a lot of effort into finding a job, when you're out of work, you have a lot of extra time on your hands.
Re:Ridiculous (Score:5, Funny)
No, but they might say "Gee, I would normally write a patch to fix Xorg's gonkulator, but dammit, I have to go search for a job instead."
I'll have you know that the behavior of Xorg's gonkulator is functioning exactly as intended. Marking this entry as RESOLVED: WONTFIX.
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Or even writing apps they might be able to make some money off of such as various mobile phone apps which are still reasonably done by a single person, some sort of web service, etc. Something that could get the attention of a potential employer and myabe bring in a little bit of much needed income if they're good and/or lucky.
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Re:Ridiculous (Score:4, Insightful)
No, but they might say "Gee, I would normally write a patch to fix Xorg's gonkulator, but dammit, I have to go search for a job instead."
That's the same crap argument that always gets thrown out. Searching for a job isn't something you can reasonably do 16 hours a day, 7 days a week. It takes no appreciably greater amount of the day to look for work than it does to go to work. After you've gone to 3 interviews and sent of 20 more resumes, what are you going to do after 6pm, when most offices are closed? Sit at home for 3 hours and obsessively tune your resume? After every day? Un-fucking-likely.
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Until recently, open source software was developed by people FOR THE LOVE OF IT!!!
That you get paid was a bonus! Most open source software still is written by people who like to write software, and more often than not, to fill a need that person had. Linux is such a piece of software. Although I don't know Linus personally, I am pretty sure that if there was suddenly no need for Linux, chances are, he would stop developing it. Sure, he might continue to do it for money...but with his programming and managem
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Well, this might work for young unmarried developers with little work experience, but try to convince your wife that you are doing everything you can to get a job while programming open source projects for free.
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People need something to live off
This is utterly ridiculous. It's not like work on an open source project is comparable to giving away money, or hand-built widgets. Nobody is going to say "gee, I would normally contribute this code to that open source project, but I'm unemployed, so I'll sell it to buy groceries instead."
I know you're right, but could you explain the economic reality in a bit more detail, for the uninitiated like myself who are as knowledgeable? Thanks.
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People need something to live off
This is utterly ridiculous. It's not like work on an open source project is comparable to giving away money, or hand-built widgets. Nobody is going to say "gee, I would normally contribute this code to that open source project, but I'm unemployed, so I'll sell it to buy groceries instead."
I know you're right, but could you explain the economic reality in a bit more detail, for the uninitiated like myself who are as knowledgeable? Thanks.
The reality is that only a very small percentage of open source programmers actually *live* off of open source programming. The overwhelming majority of contributors to OSS projects are employed doing other things (usually but not always computer related), and simply code for the fun of it. Being unemployed will have minimal effect on these contributors (unless their financial situation reaches a point where they can't afford an internet connection any more, that is). "Looking for a job" is *not* an 8 ho
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This is utterly ridiculous.
It is not. In fact, open source software is only possible in a state of welfare, and a luxury others can't afford. There is a scale, with on one hand a poor, jobless programmer in a 3rd world country, his main worry how to feed his children each day, and he will not be thinking a microsecond about the next release of Gnome. Cynically, all those guys battling it out over how freedom is defined in software usually will not be thinking about what is really much more important if a better planet is what you are
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You're absolutely right. On the other hand, people might very well say "a break in my resume will look very bad when it comes to getting a new job, I'll spend my time on open source rather than watch TV".
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I think the point is that when you have "extra" it's not a problem to give things away for free. However, if you can't pay your rent or don't have enough to buy food I don't think your priority is going to be working on something for free. Of course anything that detracts from the "Open Source Rulez Supreme" mantra must be shot down.
"Priority"? What are you talking about? "not being able to pay rent or buy groceries" isn't even an activity. Name the activity that arguably takes priority away from FOSS. "Lookig for a job" is no harder work than having a job, so what is taking up the other 8 hours of waking time?
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When you'll have to work from 9 to 21 six days a week as a professional code monkey, you are not going to contribute much to OSS during evenings
Wait, so you're saying higher unemployment is going to make programmers have to work MORE?
Boredom is worse than poverty (Score:5, Insightful)
Were I unemployed, I would still contribute to open source projects. The only thing I think would be worse than being jobless and broke would be being bored, jobless, and broke.
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What you mean bored? Go watch some TV. If nothing else there is always some infomercials going on!
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Yes, watch TV rather then work on something which you could put on a CV. You sir are a genius.
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Even though you are joking, you might be interested in: Clay Shirky: Gin, Television, and Social Surplus [blip.tv] (transcript [worldchanging.com])
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Idk about you, but if I were unemployed - I'd try to work. Now, it depends how much cushion money I have. If I could live of my saving for a year, I'd probably contribute to a OS project hoping to get noticed. If I didn't. Well, I'd probably forget about programming pet projects for a while and get any job I can in any industry,
Re:Boredom is worse than poverty (Score:4, Insightful)
Idk about you, but if I were unemployed - I'd try to work.
Being able to point to your devblog and say "this is the code I've been writing over the last six months of unemployment" looks a lot better than "I've done nothing but write resumes for six months and I'll spend my first month trying to remember what an IDE looks like".
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"I completely agree with you, I remember the days when people thought "with open source, will jobs suffer?".
Are you implying that that question has been resolved?
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But what was your point?
It should flourish. (Score:5, Insightful)
If all those programmers that are unemployed want to keep their skills sharp they better find a project or two to join and keep on coding.
Honestly sitting on the couch for 3 months eating cheetos and playing the Xbox does not make you a useful coder when you finally get another gig. Laid off? go to sourceforge and find something you would like to contribute to, contact the team, and get cracking. Keeps you sharp and you will get spoiled by the no deadline freedom.
Plus, it's a great resume item (Score:5, Interesting)
Re:Plus, it's a great resume item (Score:4, Insightful)
And by the same token, bragging that you wrote a bunch of good code that you /can't/ show off because its proprietary isn't nearly as useful as it sounds.
OSS contributions are very valuable because of the open licensing.
Getting code merged into the kernel also shows some specific technical skills and inter-personal work dynamics with other programmers, something worth pointing out at least :-).
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Most employers aren't interested in seeing your code unless you have little experience.
Re:It should flourish. (Score:5, Informative)
I agree. For the reason you stated, and that I was bored, I did a lot more open source coding when I was jobless than I do now.
And it -did- help me get a good job as well.
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I'm still employed and hope to be continually employed.
But in my spare time, I'm furiously hacking away on my own GPL'd application to:
1) perhaps sell it (in the MySQL model)
2) add new skills
3) add something additional to my resume
Scary economy has effect of making me work harder.
Probably not (Score:2)
Even with him around, they barely contributed to the Mach kernel.
Dubious assumptions? (Score:5, Insightful)
The second, we know is partially true, if altruism didn't exist OSS wouldn't work nearly as well; but definitely not wholly true, anybody can rattle off the list of big serious commercial players paying people to build OSS.
The first, though, seems a really weird assumption to make when talking about OMG Depression! conditions. For anybody who primarily works for a living(as opposed to primarily owning or investing) the more or less defining characteristic of bad economic times is low prices or no buyers for your labor. It isn't: "Well, times are hard, so I'm going to start selling the labor I used to give away.", it is "Times are hard, people aren't interested in buying the labor I want to sell."
There will probably be some cases where people who used to work relatively short hours at high wages will now work longer hours at lower wages, thus decreasing their OSS contribution; but I strongly suspect that, for most programmers(and people generally) the whole point of "depression" is that you can't just go and sell the labor you used to give away. If things get really dreadful, fall of the USSR style dreadful, we'll probably see less OSS and more subsistence farming and wood chopping; but garden variety economic slowdown would seem to have the opposite effect.
Cut their own throats, so to speak (Score:2, Insightful)
By driving the cost of software to zero, OSS developers have made it difficult for many people to act creatively due to the high cost of development. While OSS developers may make some money developing an open source software package, they have essentially forever undercut anyone who might have also developed something similar. This isn't to say that closed source products are somehow more encouraging of competition, but simply that OSS stakes out the monopoly position as its first step (by pricing everythi
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>By driving the cost of software to zero, OSS
>developers have made it difficult for many people
>to act creatively due to the high cost of
>development. While OSS developers may make some
>money developing an open source software package,
>they have essentially forever undercut anyone who
>might have also developed something similar.
>
>This, I think, is the reason why OSS is generally
>of poor quality (generally speaking) compared to
>closed source competition.
There's at least 2 fal
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1) If the OSS software is truly worse, either the system using it will be worse, or someone needs to do the work for fix it up or hammer it into shape -> jobs.
This is the broken windows fallacy rephrased: it's good to build a house with broken windows, because fixing windows creates jobs.
Re:Cut their own throats, so to speak (Score:4, Insightful)
Did you mean that as a troll, or do you sincerely believe that?
Let's move past the "Windows vs Linux" argument first of all, as they each appeal to different types of people, and both have merits and downsides.
First, at the ultra-low-end, where you have Joe Sixpack dependant on one-click do-everything apps, I will agree that closed source has the edge, and for an obvious (IMO) reason - The same people interested in FOSS tend to want more control than such software provides.
At the ultra-techie end, you pretty much have your choices dictated by platform. For serious Windows development, you use Visual Studio (and I write that as someone who does prefer MinGW to Visual Studio, but I won't play dumb); For web development, Adobe has pretty much a hard monopoly (and again, I say that as someone who will not use Adobe dev tools). For the unixy and embedded markets, you either have FOSS or WindRiver (and in that case, FOSS has such a huge edge that WindRiver gave up on their own garbage and now just repackages FOSS tools).
So, let's consider the middle-to-advanced users, those who know they have a choice, but don't necessarily care about ideology, just results. I would of course point out FireFox and ThunderBird as crown jewels of open source; For DRM-unencumbered media players, you only have Open Source choices; For rippers (that don't impose their own DRM), again, pretty much all open source with the notable exception of SlySoft (which only has an edge at the moment because they beat us to the punch on BluRay ripping). For image editing, GIMP has a complicated interface with a steep learning curve - But so does Photoshop. For DAW, I honestly know more engineers using Audacity than Sonar/DP/GB/etc, with the exception that if you need custom hardware or realtime support, you don't have many choices there. For those who know the difference between word processing and text editing, the FOSS Notepad++ has pretty much crushed the competition for the text editor crown. For secure terminal sessions and most tunneling, everyone (in the Windows world) uses PuTTY; For (non-one-click) video format conversion, VirtualDub counts as pretty much the only choice...
So... I don't know that I'd call FOSS better than commercial apps, but in some cases yes, and in most cases comparable.
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You miss the point OSS software competes with the mass market software industry, it does not compete with the speciality software market, where you buy a "system" or "solution" that provides the hardware, installation, support, maintenance, and the software, in fact this is where OSS is most used as a base to add the speciality system on top of ...
OSS is not "generally poor or quality" the equivalent products are generally of much the same quality, you do not compare a small OSS Project with Office, the sam
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Ubuntu is not Utilitarian! It can be as colourful and creative as OSX... if not more so ...
Yet they chose shades of broooown . Go figure.
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It depends on the target market. By providing zero-cost tools and libraries, OSS developers have made it easier for me to act creatively in providing custom software solutions to my customers.
The whole point of OSS is to eliminate vendor lock-in and pointless duplication of effort. It would be difficult to compete with Apache or gcc or Mozilla, yea verily. B
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While you're trolling, here's some fodder:
Yeah, NASA standardized on Python because it sucks, that m
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This, I think, is the reason why OSS is generally of poor quality (generally speaking) compared to closed source competition. Whereas OSS is driven by addressing specific needs, closed source must compete on its merits and advantages. This leads to very utilitarian software for OSS (Ubuntu) and much more colorful and creative software for closed source (Apple's OSX).
I respectfully disagree. I am not sure how exactly you compare Ubuntu to OS X, but in my book Ubuntu is more stable, more responsive, supports more hardware, has more software (that I actually want to use for my work), and if you want to talk bells and whistles, Ubuntu + Compiz totally dwarfs MS's and Apples puny attempts at desktop eye candy.
You see, Ubuntu is like a common weasel, because it is graceful and kind of brownish, where as OS X is more like platypus, something god threw together right after h
Unless I can't pay for internet (Score:5, Insightful)
Opposite effect? (Score:5, Informative)
I would think that sacked software engineers would actually be more likely to start contributing to OSS ...
[I can't RTFA because of content filtering where I'm at right now. So I'm guessing about its contents.]
Without jobs, Open Source will flourish! (Score:5, Insightful)
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Also, when I write software for a living, I like spending the free time I have on other hobbies that I don't get to do at work. If I was jobless, I would likely have more interest in writing software at home than I do now.
Companies Need Software (Score:4, Interesting)
Open Source Benefits. (Score:2)
I think open source will benefit. There will be a certain number of people who are laid off that it will be extremely difficult to find a similar job. I'm thinking of people in industries and service sector jobs that were contracting before the downturn and have become much worse (the printing industry is one in particular I'm very familiar with).
These individuals will need to "reinvent" themselves to an extent. Getting involved in an open source project will give them some experience in a new field. In add
Do what Stallman did (Score:2)
Get a MacArthur Genius Grant, and get paid to speak. Then you can do whatever you want in the rest of the time. After all, he's making a living without getting paid for writing code. It's good enough for him, it should be good enough for you.
If you want an employer perspective (Score:4, Informative)
If I'm looking at fairly equally qualified candidates and one of them spent their off time contributing to an open source project, I would tend to see that as a very big point in their favor. To me that says they really enjoy what they do and have concerns that go beyond the bottom line. And that they care enough about their skills to keep them sharp while they were off.
Community service always looks good, even if that community is virtual. And that can make those of you coming out of college stand out from your peers. An open source project can give you very marketable experience.
Who Are You Gonna Hire? (Score:5, Insightful)
OR
Engineer B who was laid off and did some work on an open source project where he/she learned some new things and kept their skills sharp?
I think the exact opposite would occur, No jobs equals more people who now have the time to jump in.
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Some people who are being paid to work on Free Software (there are probably a lot more of them then you realize) will be laid off, balancing some unemployed who will get involved with Free Software projects to fill their time and keep up their skills. There could be a net loss, but I doubt it. Free Software vendors will continue to do well and more companies will see the value of both using and contributing.
Calculus still applies (Score:2)
Like with everything else, there is an optimum level of employment that supports open pro bono open source activity. Note that producing open source can itself be a paid job - especially as a freelancer with the right clients. If Stallman had his way, *all* paid programming work would be on GPL software. Two years ago, it looked like my company might go under, and I was doing a lot more pro bono on the side. Now there is tons of work, and it is hard to squeeze in even a simple Fedora packaging project.
Nonsense (Score:2)
Linus was a student with no corporate sponsorship when he started on the kernel. Hobbyists and uber-coders are driven to do it, and they will.
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Linus didn't need corporate sponsorship because his country has a real safety net. For those of us who live in the US, it's a different story.
quite contrary (Score:2)
Here in Europe, it is quite usual to receive some financial help while unemployed - a "by product" of various taxes and/or insurances we have to pay.
So, if the developer get unemployed, he can spend that time with such financial support doing what? Yes, making his resume look better by participating on some FOSS development. Or simply enjoying the participation like some kind of vacation.
That of course for all those few days any good developer will stay unemployed. :)
Opposite (Score:2)
Picking an Open source project to contribute to is on my short list of things to do when/if laid off.
I also plan to work on for profit code (or code I hope will make a profit), but contributing to OSS is something I plan to do with the new found 50 hours a week of free time, should that happen.
Participants, maybe. Not amount. (Score:2)
Certainly some people will cut back on their projects to devote more time to paid work. Others will probably increase their involvement, in an attempt to build or enhance a portfolio of work that could help get or secure a job. In the end, it'll probably be a wash: not much net increase or decrease.
The answer is no. (Score:2)
I don't get paid for any open source work I do.
If I find myself without a job, I oftentimes find myself more driven to work on open source things and personal projects, rather than coming home from work and vegging out with wikipedia all night.
I like having the income a job provides, but by the same token, I also like having the energy and drive that a job takes out of me.
It will help in at least two ways... (Score:2)
I see the current economic correction as a challenge, for sure, but (minus stupid government attempts to "fix" it) also a great opportunity. Any business that wishes to survive must become more competitive, and must learn to do more with less. Free Software is one of the tools that will help many of them to do so.
I expect to be laid off soon by the financial services megacorp I work for. The moment that happens, Free / Open Source Software will benefit in two ways. First, I will have vastly more time t
I'd say exactly the opposite will happen (Score:2)
Certainly those software developers who still have jobs will likely spend less time on open-source projects, they'll be spending more of their time picking up the load as their employers lay other developers off and try to get more work from fewer people. But developers who're out of work will have more time to work on their own projects, even allowing for time spent hunting for work. And open-source projects make for good resume fodder: things to fill out a resume and provide code they can show to prospect
Making money with open source (Score:2)
First: I probably only spend about 100 to 150 hours a year working on open source projects.
That said, open source is a key resource in my business. I live in a remote area in the mountains of Arizona so I mostly work remotely from home. This means that I compete with friends and colleagues in Russia, Vietnam, Brazil, and India whose cost of living is a lot less than in the USA.
One way I compete is by very aggressively using open source projects and building on them for consulting jobs. Customers, especially
layoffs will separate the wheat from the chaff. (Score:2, Interesting)
Likely, some of those who have lost their jobs will moan that they don't have time to work on open-source projects; they'll move into their parents' basements, read job postings on Craigslist and send off a few dozen resumes each day, then spend the rest of their time playing World of Warcraft.
These people are losers. They weren't going to work on open-source projects anyway, so a recession and layoff doesn't make a bit of difference to their usefulness to the world. It just gives them more time for World
But Jobs will be back in June (Score:3, Funny)
I read it on Slashdot [slashdot.org].
Which would you rather list on your CV? (Score:2)
February 2009 - Present: Unemployed
vs
February 2009 - Present: Full-time contributor to [insert your itch here]
high unemployment is good for open source (Score:2)
Right after the dot bomb bust, many of the open source project I was following gained a lot of momentum. All those techies out of work, what're they going to do, sit around and not use their computer?
Hmmm maybe not (Score:2)
people who are actively involved in open source projects are ones who can show many strong portfolio items whichever job they apply. they would probably get preference because of solid examples of prior work, and in some cases, name recognition. i dont think they will be out of job for too long. lower wages maybe, but dont think so.
AND in any case, there is elance etc, where they can do freelancing easily, with the help of same strong resume.
In a word, No. (Score:2)
More Likely to Contribute (Score:2)
No, there will be more Open Source work (Score:3, Interesting)
I'm a software developer. I've had a few periods where I was unemployed. I think that is when I wrote the most open source software. I had time. What else does a software guy do when he has plenty of spare time?
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Why would Ubuntu close shop? It's funded by a millionaire and since it started has been running at a loss anyway. What difference does it make if they run at a loss a little longer?
In fact that question doesn't even matter because they're finally breaking even.
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In fact that question doesn't even matter because they're finally breaking even.
When did Canonical start breaking even ? [Citation needed]
Charity? (Score:2)
I don't think those companies contribute to Linux as charity in the first place. More likely, they wanted to have some input in a system with growing market share. Red Hat is actually making a profit according to its latest quarterly report, so I don't expect them to close shop soon ;-)
Ubuntu might be an exception, as its founder Mark Shuttleworth has said he is doing it partly to return something to the community.
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"...and projects such as ubuntu and red hat are either going to need to justify themselves economically -or close shop"
Would this be the same Red Hat that companies pay $1000 per copy for so that they can run $60K/cpu Enterprise software?
Redhat doesn't have to "justify" itself to anyone.
It's enterprise software the same as what comes from IBM or Sun.
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There are some nuances in play, though, that I think are actually beneficial here. My employer has a heightened interest in OSS because of its zero cost of entry and is more willing to spend money on just support contracts. This has in effect been beneficial to OSS as a whole because economic situations are encouraging firms to go that route. This would have the net effect of not only benefiting OSS, but creating jobs in that sector of IT spending.
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It's just a different social contract than the "winner take all" approach we have in the US.
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Geert, is that You?
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I don't know... Considering that it's oftentimes CHEAPER to do those "paid projects" than to go buy something from a proprietary vendor (Or even, in many cases, one of the commercial FOSS vendors...), you might find MORE "paid projects" happening.
It's not about "the community" in most cases with these projects, it's oftentimes more about suitability to task, overall cost, or both.
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People being paid to do OSS work is less likely ... people doing OSS work anyway either in their free time or if unemployed in their copious free time will continue as normal
Having said that companies that reply on OSS software still need it fixed and improved and so they are likely to still throw resources at it, even if they cut back in the same way as they are elsewhere
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