"scott" <sco### [at] scottcom> wrote in message
news:48b500ec$1@news.povray.org...

> > Of course it's not your fault that you have no respect for software
> > developers, it's their own making. The problem with is that academics
have
> > given away too much for too long,

> Also because a lot of computer programmers do it only as a hobby, and as
> such they have another source of income so don't mind if they don't get
paid
> for their hobby work.  But I wonder why it is different for other hobbies
> like photography, you would never find some unknown person to do your
> wedding for free.  But people are happy to spend *years* writing code and
> then give it away for free to unknown people.  Maybe it says more about
the
> sort of people who program as a hobby.

I think it's more of a perception issue based on the logistics of the
situation. A photographer offering free services to random people would have
to deal with customers and be on their terms. When you are actually on
someone else's terms, you feel like you are working. It's a misconception,
of course. Like you said, a programmer can be spending/wasting much more
man-hours, but without an external deadline and project specifications, he
may not feel like he is essentially working for free for somebody else.
There is of course also the portfolio building or competitive aspect, which
is equally misguided (hobby projects count very little at job interviews,
one needs to be able to work under deadlines and specs).

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