

Ask HN: Why contribute to open source and not do voluntary work instead? - sebkomianos

I just read the &quot;I asked for a t-shirt, I got a job&quot; (https:&#x2F;&#x2F;news.ycombinator.com&#x2F;item?id=6529696) story and couldn&#x27;t help myself anymore: How come people contribute to companies (for free) and to open source but not do volunteering in the same volumes?<p>I mean, what are the reasons that make someone build X library for Y company&#x2F;application that are not found when it comes to helping clean a nearby park, protect a forest, organise common meals, etc etc
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mindcrime
Who's to say? I'm almost tempted to even say "who cares"? I mean that, as in,
"what good is it going to do to find the answer to this question"? Even IF it
weren't the case that the answer is probably different for every single
individual, what would you do differently if there was a discrete answer and
you knew it?

For what it's worth, I spent a decade of my life (basically the 1990's)
dedicating hundreds of hours a month to being a volunteer firefighter. I did
everything from being a probie to being Fire Chief over the years, ran
hundreds of calls, spend FSM knows how many hours in training, got my
instructor certification to teach FFI and FFII, Incident Command, and LP Gas
Firefighting classes... and now I don't do any of that anymore.

Why not? I don't know, my interests changed, my career took me in a different
direction, and now I spend my time doing other things. I don't do much
volunteering these days, other than a trivial amount of time working with the
local mountain-bike club on building and maintaining trails. My time is so
precious to me, that I find I'd rather try to help charitable causes and other
orgs that I believe in, by just donating money. So now I make donations to, or
maintain memberships in all sorts of groups: IMBA (International Mountain
Bicycling Assocation), NRA, EFF, Libertarian Party, Gun Owners of America,
FSF, Jews for the Preservation of Firearms Ownership, Second Amendment
Foundation, Grassroots NC, etc.

Outside of that, I feel like the best path for me to both accomplish my
personal goals and to help make the world a better place, is by founding a
startup and building an awesome company that can create jobs, and - once we're
profitable - do even more in terms of giving back to worthy causes. Plus I
simply feel driven to be engaged in the act of creating something, and right
now that means trying to create this company.

But that's just me... again, I expect everybody has their own take on things.

~~~
sebkomianos
I am not asking because I want to do something differently - I am asking
because I am curious about what force is the one that drives someone to spend
hours and hours to fix bugs for an open source project (something that is
digital) but doesn't drive him/her to do all the things I mentioned above
(things that are physical).

I mean, we can end up with the coolest web apps but at the same time we might
be running out of oxygen, to give an exaggerated example. What is this that we
cannot see in order to prioritise differently?

~~~
mindcrime
Sorry, but when I hear a question like this, I can't help but hear a subtle
hint of "you're doing it wrong" embedded in the question. As though somebody
is saying "You have your priorities wrong, and you should be prioritizing the
same things I am." But, at the end of the day, we all have different
motivations, and different approaches to how we want to impact the world.

I'm relying more on "second order effects" on my current trajectory. I think I
can do more to make the world a better place, by building a kickass company,
and being in a position to create jobs and donate money to worthy causes, than
by spending my time planting trees, or cleaning the beach or whatever. _shrug_

Maybe the webapp that Joe Coder hacks on, winds up being adopted by Greenpeace
or somebody, and they use it to optimize their operations and that frees up a
couple of million dollars for $WHATEVER. I don't know, it's a made up example,
but like I said, sometimes you have to consider the second (or nth) order
effects of your actions.

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csixty4
At the risk of this coming off pretty damn snarky, it's because volunteering
involves work.

My wife and I do a lot of volunteer work, actually; mostly with animal
shelters. I also do a good amount of open source work in my spare time. As a
geek, I find programming fun. Even if I'm swearing up a storm wrestling with a
bug, I'm having the time of my life. I'm so lucky to be able to do this as a
job and a hobby, and to enjoy both.

And while I enjoy working with homeless cats, there's dirty litter boxes to
clean, wild cats to be socialized and tame cats to be medicated (both of which
usually involve me getting clawed somewhere on my body), and members of the
public to be educated about our shelter's cats and cat ownership in general. I
enjoy knowing I'm doing good, but it's a different kind of enjoyment. I enjoy
the outcome, not so much the journey to get there.

Speaking of "the journey", I did an outreach event a couple Sundays ago. It
was an hour drive each way. _Great_ chance to promote the shelter in front of
animal owners and other rescue groups. But I was beat by the time I got home,
and I gave up half my weekend to be there.

In contrast, I can work on open source in my favorite chair, with my feet up,
watching TV while sipping on an adult beverage. Totally different experience,
and one that probably sounds much more attractive to most people. It doesn't
feel like work to me.

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anywherenotes
Probably the top reason someone would fix app instead of volunteering
physically, is regular volunteering requires working on someone else's
schedule.

For example if you are on a volunteer ambulance squat, then you got some hours
assigned to you, and you have to be available at that time. (Plus you are in
contact with people who may have diseases and exposing yourself and loved ones
to them, but that's not common to all volunteering.)

Making a patch to open source can be done on your own time and from your own
home.

A much smaller issue, is the issue of familiarity. Most of us know how to
change and check in code. But if you'd like to help a child orphanage, it
requires stepping out of comfort zone - or at least present knowledge zone.

And final issue off the top of my head could just be awareness. It's easy to
find a request for help in open source projects. There isn't a bug list for
helping around community ... that I know of.

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forgottenpass
Look at it this way OP: Why haven't you dedicated your life to finding a way
to maximize your chartable output? Exactly.

