[Lazarus] Proprietary vs Open Source mentality

[Chavoux Luyt]

Hi guys

On 3 September 2012 02:34, Craig Peterson <craig at scootersoftware.com> wrote:

> I don't think it's an open source vs closed source mentality. It's quite
> possible that Uwe can't open source it; in the post you linked he even
> mentions that he used knowledge of the compiler internals to implement it.
> <snip>
>
I think we are missing the point here. It was not so much about Uwe himself
as about the difference in mindset between open source and
shareware/freeware. Personally I think many "freeware" programmers first
want to see how  popular their component/program is with the hope of later
selling it (or selling a non-free "de luxe" version) once it gets popular
enough. That is why they want to keep the source closed (not saying that
this is the reason behind Uwe's decision). But at the same time they loose
out on the benefit of having other programmers improving their product free
of charge.

I think the point was that the proprietary mindset is in general not a
productive way of thinking. If you are not making money from something
anyway, why not share the source code? Then others may learn from you and
(especially if you hate writing documentation) understand exactly how to
use your program/component and in addition, actually improve your code if
they want to add extra features (that you might find useful in turn). Also,
when you loose interest or don't have time for the project any more, there
will be probably be somebody to continue with it.

Regards
Chavoux
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