An Open Source Contributors Compensation

What does one get in return for contributing to Open Source Software? In general it is fulfilling a personal need; whether it be to learn something, fill a void in the software gap, or the camaraderie you share with your fellow developers. Well, what if thats not enough for Open Source to break out of its shell?

I recently bought a Linksys WRT54G wireless router, mainly because it is running Linux and I have heard reports that it can be relatively easily "hacked." The part that makes it so easy is that Linksys is now required to provide the source code used on the router as the code it used as a base for the router is protected under the GNU GPL. Linksys, however, did not release the source initially. But after some people figured out what was going on, they applied some legal pressure that worked, so Linksys must now provide the source.

How is this related? I'm getting there.

Now that it is so relatively easy to hack the router, there are a number of people who have subsequently released their own hacked versions of the Linksys firmware to add to or change the functionality of the router. Well, then comes along Sveasoft, a software company which initially released firmware in accordance with the GPL. Then they got greedy.

Sveasoft has since closed their forums to the public, which was apparently a great resource for getting information on the router and hacking/upgrading its firmware, and now only provides their firmware to members, which requires a $20/year subscription. This spawned a strong response from the community. Flame wars started. And rouge websites started offering the Sveasoft firmware. And Sveasoft appears to be very cruel and childish about the issue. This is the point at which I came into the scene, and the dust has not quite settled.

Ok, lets get back on track now.

This whole thing got me thinking. Is this the start of a move toward a greater compensated open source model?

If you have been to SourceForge lately, you will notice that projects and users have a pretty prominent donation icon on their pages and listings. I have a few projects up there and have them setup to receive donations (though nobody has yet bitten). I would surely welcome the donations, and I'm sure it would help as a motivator to spend more time on the projects.

It looks like Sveasoft is going about it the wrong way, as there is a big difference between accepting donations and forcing subscriptions. But I do see a place for improved compensation.
I think one day we will start to see a new model emerge. Although I believe that it will not be strictly monetary. There are several other ways to contribute to a project, which can be just as beneficial, though in different ways.

The whole idea is to give something back to the authors. They put a lot of time and effort into releasing their software, and I know that if there were more given back to them it would both help developers continue releasing software and bring in new developers. The problem is in controlling and managing the compensation. Right now there are ways for users to initiate compensation back to the authors, but nothing to track, control, or reward.

It could quite possibly be this kind of thing that propels open source software ahead of proprietary software. But it may not work at all. Who knows. Only time will tell.

The Future of the Browser Pt. 2

I did some more thinking about the future of the browser and came to an interesting impasse. While my ideas are good, I just don't think we are ready for it. The reason is that the web is still very much a form of artistic expression.

The problem is that my idea causes a shift in artistic control. Now, the artistic control is in the hands of the author, but with my idea of specializing the browser, the artistic control will move to the user. Just with your desktop, where you can set backgrounds and themes, your "browser" will have similar capabilities.

Is this a good thing or a bad thing? I know authors and web designers want to compose their information the way they want it to look, but the user is the one who has to look at it and like it.

The real problem now is that the state of the web is still in its infancy. And people are still playing with their new toy. But eventually the browser will segment and become more specialized for the information it is presenting. The main driving force is that the web is growing immensely, and we are getting to the point where there is just too much information in one place.