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@ellzey ellzey/GOODBYE FOSS PART 01.md Secret
Last active Jan 18, 2017
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GOODBYE FOSS PART 01.md
WHY I TURNED MY BACK ON FOSS [Part 1];
AKA "Why I went missing for 2 years".
AKA "I'm sorry to everyone who was effected by my personal problems".
AKA "I'll be back."
Warning: names have been changed to protect the evil.
This is ripe for a flame war. Fine. Fire up those guns. Do what people always do, scan over the words until your eyes become so tired - you have to actually read something. Turn your focus on one thing, take it out of context, and spout nonsense.
Science has peer-reviews, a public forum for others to reproduce, and check the validity of the research. So does open-source, but on average, this is what happens:
From: CaPPiN^yOAssXxX69XxX@denver.cc.edu
Subject: Re: Re: PLZ HOMEWORK, ME REPLY TO U, THINK AINT NO WORK!
It don't wrk that way! U SUCK!
But, _why does it work?_
BCUZ IT DOT!
But it works, how doesn't it work?
BCUZ I M ON /R/PRGMAMMARZ, IT B THE .STRTAB SECTION!fdsfsd
What?
YEAH! BOOM HEADSHOT! OWNED! I'm out, gonna wrote me some nobjs, run
ccc-analyzer on sum code, mad skrillaz, and play call of duty.
OK.
I have decided that after 25 years of advocating, contributing, creating, and helping, I'm done writing OSS. Bay Area 20, Mark 0.
MY OPINIONS ARE NOT YOURS.
Like the code I am working on now, and the plans I have for the future, will never be seen by anyone but myself, and maybe some friends. But I will never release anything without PPL, and GPLv1 - a far cry from 2 clause BSD. It's unfortunate that educational only licenses are not compatible with either BSD or GPL.
This is not a cry-me-a-river post. I was honestly curious to see what my brain and fingers would write, after years of pent up rage.
Would it be a crazy rant, with images of me living alone in a shack and typewriter, far from the reach of mankind?
Can I remain tactful, calm, and relaxed - while pointing out serious flaws on this subject?
Or will it be somewhat legible: showing a different, and darker side of FOSS, in hopes to influence at least ONE person from making the same life-long mistake as me?
But I do know one thing: I have absolutely nothing to lose. It is said that after 6 months of unemployment, you become "un-hireable", but what about 2 years? Exactly, my career is dead. And I blame it all on OSS.
I am speaking on behalf of my own experiences moving to, and living in, the East Bay. Many others have had vastly different experiences.
BUT THIS ONE IS MINE.
Though this time, you can't have it.
I thought that ALL code is useful to someone, maybe not the way that it was intended, but in another context. To just put it out there, even if you're not proud of the work, it will be used eventually.
Some of my worst code has been used to create better things. And that's awesome; Just cite the author.
Success should not be a factor. If everyone uses it, prepare to feel awesome. If nobody uses it, at least you've learned something. Either way, the developer wins.
I believed that FOSS was to be a medium to make a better world - in small ways. To make the act of learning easier. Strangers to become peers, the peers to become friends. To see new things evolve from the old; A hidden world, one without fear of being insulted, thrown to the ground, and kicked to the curb.
But to what end?
To create an enlightened society.
And it did!
Until 2008.
WHY ARE YOU TYPING IN CAPS, WHAT IS 2008?
We'll get to 2008.
Much of this post is a direct result of:
Being told by two directors at FlibFlop that I was not to work on Libevent.
Finding out that FlibFlop openly promotes hate, and fear. (Examples excluded in fear of a lawsuit).
Screw it
If you are not happy, we don't want you, get out.
The mantra of a FlibFlop director - every meeting.
#include "eastbay.h"
/* from something, to nothing */
do {
puts("Finding out what it's like to be homeless.\n");
sigh
I eventually upgraded to a van
YAY
puts("Watching as other developers accept jobs working on my code. "
"Not just once, but 14 times.\n");
ohffs
puts("`Not a good fit`, the Bays way of saying `Where is your fedora and Ruby skills?`.\n");
are you shitting me?
puts("HEY, CAN I WORK FOR FREE????? NO :(\n");
free work??
puts("Never given any feedback. In most cases, temporary addresses were used, "
"which bounced when asking for updates.\n");
Are you shitting me?
puts("9 to 12 hour interviews, never to be heard from again. (Fast** did the right thing, "
"and cut it short instead of wasting 8 hours)\n");
errday
puts("Startups that think they are Google.\n");
puts("Contracting for companies whom never paid.\n");
puts("Contracting for companies that completely changed the SoW on the start date.\n");
SoW all dday long
puts("Hearing stories from other open-source developers in San Francisco, homeless, having the same "
/* if not worse */, "issues as my own.\n");
puts("A doctor prescribing me a drug that had negative effects, "
"resulting in a blackout... during an interview.\n"); /* I didn't get the job */
puts("Finding the most moral, and ethical company, in the most _unusual_ of places."\n);
love you all
puts("Janitorial positions which required at least 7 years of experience.\n");
JANITOR
puts("A mental breakdown after losing everything, "
"_not just monetary_, but the will " /* _and right_ */ "to live.\n");
puts("Being turned down for a job at McDonalds.\n");
puts("Temp agencies that never have temp jobs.\n");
} while(1);
But, throughout this: I lost my passion for writing open-source, and much worse: writing software all together. At least the second part is back in shape.
Unless the OSS community can evolve, or better yet, revert back to the state when it was an act of love, and not an act of a kickstarter, the monsters will remain hungry.
Takers give birth to monsters.
Givers now feed the monsters.
But no more. FOSS has become a scourge. It's left behind a trail of blood, and opened the doors for abuse and greed to thrive, spitting on the faces of those that give.
CODE WAS ART
Code, much like art, will live on for all to see, long after the worms shit you out. Legacies are made with every line released to the public. The parallels between art and code are easily seen.
Take a step back from the monitor and look at what was written. It should be beautiful, and if it's not, make it beautiful. One of the things you learn in art school is to turn the painting upside down. It's a different perspective which may show flaws that were unseen. Like a bug.
Art is handled with care, but can we say the same about code? As an artist and developer, I'll venture a guess: no.
We live in the "Andy Warhol Of Code" days. Take something someone else did, put it on a canvas, and make sure everyone thinks there is meaning to it.
Turn that monitor upside down!
Next up, AN EYE FOR AN EYE!
Turning the tables.
@umgeher
umgeher commented Jan 18, 2017
=/
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