Is Open Source the child of selfless invention or the byproduct of relaxation?

Until recent, I had drawn the mental image that the Open Source community predominately consisted of idealistic college students and bored adult developers. If I would have voiced this opinion I am sure that the Slashdot crowd would have descended on me. Chris Anderson knows about this backlash when he declared Open Source as the output of bored developer ‘spare-cycles’.

An article on using your craft to relax opened my eyes that it may be the case that the Open Source community is selflessly using their craft as a form of relaxation. Reasons we need relaxation comes in many forms, but the way developers relax comes in many forms as well.

Passionate Learning

A lot of developers have the personality trait that the act of learning brings them pleasure, and as a result they become passionately curious. There are many reasons why to quest for knowledge outside of the normal working hours:

• Bored but have the need to be constantly productive
• Unchallenged from our jobs and want to push ourselves
• Inability to learn during working hours
• Curious about technologies that would never be applicable to our careers

Open Source is a supportive community where people can selfishly learn while selflessly building something of use. If only pharmaceutical companies had the same passion we might have a cure for cancer…

Venting Frustration

Some software projects can get so dark and twisted from their original design that it relentlessly frustrates the development team. Alternatively, bad management or out-of-date development practices may have thrown you into a state of frustration. When developing on your own time, nobody is your boss and like Burger King – you can have it your way.

Once upon a time, I was on a project that went horribly wrong. Out of pure frustration, I kept two versions of the source code. The first version was the official business copy, designed by committee and regulated by an idiot. The second was a personal copy that I worked on at night. The sole reason for working on the second copy was to vent my anger at the inevitable failure of the project. I needed to know that it was bad management responsible for the project failure and not my ability to code the requirements.

Like a phoenix, sometimes beauty arises out of flame and ash.

Single Point Meditation

In a multitasking world, one of my favorite relaxation exercises is single point meditation. Like watching a campfire burn, nothing exists but what is currently presented to your eyes. Voiding your mind of all incoming things and concentrating on a single item is a lot like being in the ‘developer zone’ which can be impossible when at the office.

Sense of Play

During the day, we might be forced to develop programs we might not be interested in. At night, the exact same activity in a different context can become a fun hobby. Need I say more?

Man is most nearly himself when he achieves the seriousness of a child at play. -Heraclitus

Open Source at its core is about productive relaxation, and truly gifted are those that can simultaneously relax and make the world a better place.

Hugh is a genius, and if I were to read only one blog it would be Gaping Void. What I find most interesting about this phenomenon are the different interpretations.

Having worked at Microsoft, I can say this is both an internal and external perception. Externally, it is thought Microsoft is filled with slave drivers (some instances this is true). Internally, egotism is an occupational hazard as some employees believe they are changing the world solely on their association with Microsoft.

Personally, the blue monster hangs on my wall as a reminder to remain deeply passionate about my craft. After all, it is passionate people that change the world.

Once upon a time, I met a fellow named Troy while attending college. This guy always seemed to have the most improbable computer problems. It was on one particular day I learned a valuable life lesson while helping him debug a software problem he was having.

“Dude…my computer isn’t running correctly. It keeps shutting off or doing weird things. I know it was that bios update I did yesterday! Please come help!”

I arrive, as had half of the dormitory, to watch him attempt to debug the problem. We all yelled out DOS commands to run, bios settings to set, and driver updates to update. Alas, the computer was still having issues. The room full of geeks had been defeated, and we all parted ways back into our rooms.

A few minutes later, Troy sulked into our room. He had fixed the problem only it appeared he wasn’t particularly proud of the solution. “I found the problem…” he declared. Everyones ears were listening, each hoping it was the hidden driver update they had been suggesting.

“I thought it was a software problem, but I opened my computer case and laying on the motherboard were 2 pennies and a Tootsie Roll.”

Obviously, the pennies had been short circuiting the motherboard causing it to act in its erratic behavior. The moral of the story is not all problems have a difficult solution. A personality trait many developers have (including myself) is the ability to over complicate simple problems and consequently solve them with complicated solutions.

Start practicing today by boiling down each vague project requirement in attempts to discover the core problem. Then attempt to solve that problem with the least amount of code. Remember that less code is less to maintain.

Simplicity is the ultimate sophistication. -Leonardo da Vinci