

Ask YC: Writing an open source software or using one (to write an application)? - tzury

Recently I got lucky to be in a situation where I got my salary raised by 25% while required to be at the office less days per week.<p>The free time I got now seems to be a great opportunity to start a new project.<p>I was wondering whether I should start a project that targets software developers or a project that targets end users.<p>While I am convinced that the big money lays in applications, I know that it would be much more fun to cook for the chefs (that is developing for developers).<p>Have you ever been in such dilemma?
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bjclark
If this is a dilemma to you, then you don't need to be doing either. There's
no point in making some software for the sake of making the software. The only
point to making software is filling a need, so if you have none of those, then
don't write any code. And if you have found a need, who cares who it's
targeted to?

~~~
tzury
"There's no point in making some software for the sake of making the
software."

This is like telling an artist there is no point of making art for the sake of
making art.

"The only point to making software is filling a need" During the years I have
listed to myself several "needs" that are waiting to be solved

~~~
unalone
That's actually a valid point to make. It's a perfectly valid theory that if
you don't have a point to make with your art, that you're not doing anything
worthwhile.

But apparently you've got an idea or two, so it wouldn't hurt for you to try
them each out.

~~~
alex_c
I'm going to go out on a limb here and assume you're not an artist?

My mom paints. She doesn't do it because she has a point to make with her art
or because she wants to radically change society. She does it because she
enjoys it: it's relaxing, mentally stimulating, and ultimately satisfying.

Which incidentally are the exact reasons why I program. Sure, there's the
whole money and career and changing the world thing, but when you get to the
bottom of it I do it because it's fun.

I don't seem to be the only one who thinks so
(<http://www.paulgraham.com/hp.html>)

~~~
unalone
I'm a writer. When I write, I try to avoid things that have already been done
for precisely that reason. I would hate to show somebody something that wasn't
new and stimulating for THEM.

For me, a part of the fun of making art is creating things that other people
truly, honestly enjoy. I think the same would occur with programming.

~~~
alex_c
I definitely agree that creating something that other people enjoy is the most
rewarding.

I'm not a writer, so I don't presume to tell you about your own craft, but
there might be a difference between writing and programming/painting: I can
definitely enjoy programs I've written (not reading my own source code, but
actually using the programs), and if I were more talented, I could see myself
enjoying looking at my own paintings, but I find it hard to see myself reading
my own writings for enjoyment. Perhaps making something that other people
enjoy is more necessary for a writer than for a programmer or painter?

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SwellJoe
No. There is no dilemma, and your question is nonsensical. You're all tied up
in unrelated concepts: "Open Source", "end users vs. software developers",
"money vs. chefs", "applications vs. tools"--all of these things are utterly
orthogonal questions.

Open Source software can, and does, make money. Our products are 95% Open
Source, and yet, our revenue is growing at a very rapid clip. MySQL was
acquired for _500 million bucks_. Red Hat had $300 million in the bank last
time I paid attention and have made numerous acquisitions over the years. IBM
makes plenty of money supporting Open Source products. Sun has Open Sourced
everything they offer over the past few years--nearly everything Sun has
invented is now available in an Open Source form. These companies are bigger
than the majority of companies folks here at News.YC will build (not all, by
any means).

Tools companies also make money. Sun and IBM and Oracle make loads of tools
acquisitions...sometimes for tens or hundreds of millions. That aint chump
change. There have been quite a few YC companies "betting on the come" of Ruby
on Rails or Python Django or JavaScript taking a place alongside Java in the
enterprise market. So far, Heroku is the most visible instance of that, but
there will be others.

So, stop conflating a bunch of different questions, and things might begin to
become more clear. Build something people want, and build a business on it if
that's what you want to do. If you aren't passionate about end-user apps, then
don't build them--you would very likely fail anyway. If you like Open Source
as a development model, then emulate the success stories in that field (e.g.
build something in a really big market, make the Open Source model work for
you rather than against you by building a modular architecture that is easy to
extend, make your users love you rather than want to fight you and fork your
software, and figure out a way to monetize that doesn't piss off the
community).

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noodle
Ask tzury: where do you work and are they hiring?

~~~
tzury
working for Elbit Systems (<http://www.elbitsystems.com/>) [I am located at
Israel]

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xccx
Dilemma? Why not do both? Make embeddable a simple new value-adding resource
to popular text applications, targeting a well-defined and large learning
community of end users.

Use a mysql-like dual license to develop and promote the software freely, then
charge fees for support and/or commercial (enterprise) licensing.

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Hexstream
I can only think of a generic answer for your generic question.

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edw519
I guess I have a little trouble understanding how the words "more fun" can
come after "big money". Big money IS more fun.

The world doesn't need YAPT (Yet Another Programmers' Tool). It needs real
solutions to real problems. Find an end user with an itch and scratch it.

~~~
tzury
"Big money IS more fun."

Do you think guys like Linus Torvalds or Guido Van Rossum are having less fun
than Mark Zuckerberg?

~~~
edw519
Why ask for opinions that you're just you're going to question anyway?

(I see you did the same thing to bjclark.)

