Michael Latta <lattam at mac.com> wrote:

> 2) A developer needs to eat.  You can assume he has a day job, but then 
> it takes longer (see above).
Sadly this isn't a terribly good assumption these days.


> I have to admit I understand why options 1 and 2 work, better than why 
> 3 works.  I see it working, but I still do not understand why.  Why 
> would you not spend time with your kids or doing something else if 
> there is no reward.
The _real_ reward, even when you are getting paid for the work is the
thanks, either implicit or explicit, that you get. It's like
having kids except you don't have to pay to send them to college[1]
later and they don't usually spend their teenage years telling you how
stupid you are or what a loser you are.

Implicit thanks come in the form of people using your code frequently - it's
like being cited in someone else's research paper. If you get thanks, enjoy the
conversations around doing the work, feel that warm glow of
appreciation or even (it has happened to me so don't say it's
impossible) the pleasure of groupies, then life is good.

It's part of being a member of a community, a civilisation. You get
benefits, you provide benefits. Money isn't the key driving force
_unless_ you are suffering from an inadequacy of it that gets in the
way of being a member of your community. Or of course if you're one of
the people for whom money is the only thing that matters - a large and
worryingly vociferous group.

That's my opinion; so obviously it's correct.

tim
[1] Of course in any truly civilised nation education doesn't come with
a price tag to the educatee. Since everyone benefits from an educated
populace in ways including educated and successful people paying more
taxes, it is obvious that as many people as possible should be given a
shot at extensive education. I've noticed that a large fraction of
people that disapprove of this idea seem to be the people who wouldn't
likely have made much use of a full education.

--
Tim Rowledge, tim at sumeru.stanford.edu, http://sumeru.stanford.edu/tim
Strange OpCodes: WRTJ: Who Reads This Junk?