Re: freedom

[Luc Maisonobe <Luc dot Maisonobe at c-s dot fr>]

Gangolf Jobb wrote:

> as far as i can see do most people contributig to a numerical library
> like the gsl work in universities or some kind of governmental
> institution.

False. I do work for a private company and did contribute some months
ago. I did that in my own spare time, for philosophical reasons.

Many open-source contributor are professional developers, designers,
system architects or consultant, as was explained in a previous mail.
Everybody has its own reasons, and some of them ARE economical or
financial ones. Just one example coming to my mind: if you have spent a
large amount of money on some specific knowledge, it is sometimes
possible to have it promoted through free use and hence widespread usage
and sell your know-how on something that becomes a de facto standard
(training is something easy to sell, if you are a good teacher). It is
not always possible, of course.

I think nobody will convince nobody there, so I will not try to convince
you. You have selected one business model, the most important thing is
that you feel comfortable with it. Please do understand and respect
others choice.

                                                       Luc