The act of charity and joy of programming arise but may not be the ultimate goal. The motives for participation is subjective but it seems that many does it to boost professional work in one way or another.
Contribution
Schools benefit greatly from reduced costs and many students would not have had the opportunity to get a computer science degree without the wealth of information and experience found in open source. Many corporates certainly also benefit from open source.
Yes, some people actually develop feelings of wanting to give something back. Maybe not trying to make a difference but simply showing a token of gratitude to a community providing such a strong foundation for learning and education to anyone in society.
Appreciation
Programmers want others to use their stuff. We are social beings and it feels good to hear someone express their appreciation for your work. Appreciation motivates the will to understand different point of views, reduce insecurity and allow you to put others before yourself. Collaboration and social interaction create a feeling of belonging and coding for a community can make this activity even more energizing and enjoyable.
Corporate companies sometimes have a tendency to give managers most of the props, which can be disappointing and demoralizing indeed. Reading emails of gratitude and receiving help from others can feel refreshing, especially for those who have been working under less gratifying conditions.
Self-education
This is your chance to work on projects and problems that excite and inspire you the most. A strong motivator for doing your best and reach creative heights.
It may seem scary to know that your work will be reviewed and criticized publicly. But this is a tool for improving your skills, strengthening your attitude and habits towards quality. You will not code sloppy knowing that your work will be accessible anyone.
The larger projects that have survived for years and continue to evolve often have great leadership, organization and development guidelines. Technical skill is just one of the many things to observe and absorb. There is also a chance that you will join a team and learn from people that are many levels better than yourself.
Reputation
Open sourcing will build a public resume that is accessible to anyone. It looks good to have worked on a open source projects, especially famous ones. Meritocracy has a tendency to arise so offering bug corrections, improvements and ideas will earn your peers/users recognition and enhance your reputation. But keep in mind that quality is key. People do not want to spend time on contributions not following guiding principles just because the contributor was too lazy to read them.
Such a relationship can be quite stimulating as compared with the typical interaction trying to impress your manager, which interest usually lies with delivering on-time.
Transparency also feeds honest and humble communication since nobody can hide bad or selfish decisions. Strong disagreement that otherwise may end in rudeness and cruelty behind closed doors are likely be discussed more calmly knowing that others observe.
Control
Most people wish for freedom to control their lives. It can be incredibly frustrating to work on a project with budget constraints where software is rushed into a unmanageable mess. Reorganization and outsourcing can also seed feelings of disappointment and helplessness.
With open source you are no longer are a victim of such circumstances. You are free to implement and improve the features you think matters, while users help with finding relevance and set priorities.
Reuse
Most programmers develop an urge to not repeat themselves throughout their careers. Producing open source software is the freedom to truly reuse efforts when changing jobs (or starting your own company) and share them with anyone.
These intentions stimulate thinking using broader perspectives and designs that are cooperative, flexible and adaptable to different environments in order to maximize opportunities for reuse. Keeping users loyal often means maintaining version compatibility and upgradability. Having to deal with all this complexity will make you a better programmer.
And this is the right thing to do. Newton would have been proud to see this tradition of code-sharing and reuse. Reinventing wheels is a terrible waste of time and human skill.
Many view patents as the direct opposite. A threat that prevents reuse and slow programmers down. Patents also encourage a culture where people build barriers instead of helping each other. It is understandable that patents make the open source community frown.
Conclusion
Open source is a lot about a community of freedom and sharing and it is not hard to see why open source developers often are highly respected. Participation will introduce you to a community of incredible talented, like-minded and caring people that may help improve your skills beyond imagination.
Unexpected and exciting job opportunities may indeed arise, maybe at a company that will give you the fortune to produce open source software and get paid at the same time.
Reference: Personal gains from contributing to Open Source from our JCG partner Kristoffer Sjögren at the deephacks blog.
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