People that use their software think the author of the software owe them something. 12
“Help me now!”
“Fix this!”
Everything has a cost, to someone.
Lets not increase the cost to the developers.
I would think we would want to encourage people to write more free software not discourage them.
- I don’t know how to make WordPress.org Report a Site Bug clearer that it is not for problems with your WordPress installs. It affects me a little when people are demanding or rude. [↩]
- Alex King’s That’s Gratitude [↩]
I once gave away a bunch of stuff from my apartment for free via an internet newsgroup. People felt so entitled to those pictures of free things. Even though I clearly said “first come, first served” they were pissed when “their table” was gone, or that I wouldn’t hold something for a week until they could pick it up.
engtech, the word free does a funny thing to people
A slight tangent that reminds me of when we were moving from Mountain View and trying to sell a futon on Craig’s list. One person that called was quite insulting in how they tried to bargain. It ended up being cheaper for us to take it with us.
It is often cheaper for people to sell what they would otherwise give away for free.
This problem manifests online where we put on our blinkers and focus on the product or service that we want, rather than the person behind it.
I have been guilty of this myself, but I do remind myself to ask nicely when I need help with a free plugin
I hate the concept of entitlement. Whether it be a free piece of software, inheritance, or welfare. If you did not earn it then it is not yours except by the grace of others. If Joe makes free software and gives it to Bill then its Bills problem if it works or not. If your dad made a gazillion bucks while he paid for your schooling then the money is his and not yours. I agree with this post.
-Dave
I agree with Dave and Lloyd. Althoug the word Free should people in a state of gratitude it seems to turn them into spoiled children. In my job we do a lot of lead gen with the Free concept and it seems to take what would have been a good client and turns them into jerks.
I’ve seen two different flavors of abuse: 1 where users think that coders are their personal staff and 1 where coders think that users are all dolts.
BS is BS, no doubt. But *say* when someone uses an OpenSource product, has good results, scales up, and suddently finds that they’re in an untenable situation … that’s no time to say “Hey, you got your money’s worth.”
It was a running joke after Netscape released the code that Mozilla “is not intended for end-user activity” … like it was some sorta fraternity project, just for the fun of it. Firefox is what it is today because some folk were a little less than high-handed.
IMNSHO there’s a world of difference between hard-nosed pragmatism and high-handed arrogance, even though there’s some overlap.
As painfull as it sounds, you do get what you pay for. Everything has it’s price, and although I have found a few free gems online, most operated like a free piece of software.
This problem manifests online where we put on our blinkers and focus on the product or service that we want, rather than the person behind it.
I have been guilty of this myself, but I do remind myself to ask nicely when I need help with a free plugin