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> ... My belief (backed
> up by some, but not extensive research) has always been that ultimately
> it's all about a payday--either in terms of fame or cash.
>
Sometimes, but there are lots of other motives.
In the one large open source project I worked on, the FreeS/WAN IPsec
code, our motives were largely political. We were developing strong
encryption, in Canada, and making it available worldwide with the open
goal of stopping massive snooping of the net by the NSA and others.
We needed the open license to allow widespread distribution and to
encourage others to enhance it. We got that; people in Switzerland http://www.strongswan.org/ added X.509 certificate support, for example.
> In the end, from what I've seen the only reason anyone creates OS
> software is to get a big payday for their ego or their wallet.
Many people are just "scratching their own itch, developing some tool
they need. Having done that, it often makes sense to let others use it.
If you give them the source, then perhaps they can improve it. If they
do, you get a better tool too.
Also, as Bruce says in one post, many Open Source folk are social
activists, as much as Greenpeace or other such groups.
Consider the relation of nuclear science and military secrecy. From
the point of view of pure science, clearly the military restrictions on
publishing are a Bad Thing, to be opposed on principle by any scientist.
Of course, then we can argue about whether they are necessary and
which principle should override which.
The more radical Open Source folks argue that the relation between
computer science and corporate secrecy, closed source, is exactly
the same. The secrecy prevents publication and hampers scientific
development. Any responsible computer scientist should oppose it on
principle,.
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