[Python-Dev] altruism (original) (raw)

Nick Coghlan ncoghlan at gmail.com
Wed Sep 23 14:22:46 CEST 2009

Antoine Pitrou wrote:

Brett Cannon <brett python.org> writes:

Trust me, if you are doing open source for anything other than altruistic reasons you are bound to be disappointed. I'm surprised by this statement but perhaps it's a matter of vocabulary. Having fun and doing things you like to do does not strike me as "altruistic". Being involved in a FOSS project is not the same as participating in a charity.

I'd agree that 'altruism' isn't quite the right word - there's also the fact that plenty of folks these days contribute to open source because someone is paying them to :)

However, Brett's basic point that good input may sometimes go uncredited through no fault of the poster's remains valid.

Patches and particularly good bug reports/suggestions get credited in commit messages and sometimes NEWS items and the What's New, significant patches generally earn a mention in the ACKS file and each PEP usually has an acknowledgement section that lists major contributors to the associated discussion and reviews.

Posts (even well-thought out ones) on the various discussion lists? Not so much - it's too easy to lose track of who posted what in an involved discussion. The highest respect you can really earn in those is to make a valid point clearly enough that you convince others to adopt your point of view. Although sometimes you can still persuade others even when you later turn out to be wrong* ;)

Cheers, Nick.

-- Nick Coghlan | ncoghlan at gmail.com | Brisbane, Australia

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