ttp://emulator-
zone.com/doc.php/nes/))

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abstractspoon
I have been writing ToDoList
([http://www.codeproject.com/Articles/5371/ToDoList-An-
effecti...](http://www.codeproject.com/Articles/5371/ToDoList-An-effective-
and-flexible-way-to-keep-on)) as freeware for nearly 12 years and never
regretted a minute. I have a day job and write ToDoList purely for fun/joy. A
Thriving community has grown up around it, it has provoked a number of people
to develop related tools and has kept the passion alive when my day job (also
programming) sometimes sucked.

~~~
paulryanrogers
Interesting perspective, thanks for taking the time to share. I'd imagine that
most people who do open source are in a similar situation. That is, expenses
already paid. Yet such efforts also appear to undermine the value of your
profession as a whole.

Consider the poor-yet-educated developer (maybe strait out of college or
living in the 3rd world) with a great idea for a to-do application like yours.
He pours precious time and effort into his work. Then after establishing his
product someone with time to spare starts giving away a free alternative. The
poor developer cannot compete as more and more of his consumers, and potential
customers, opt for the free project.

Quality and execution are the arguments I often read in response to such an
argument. Yet the sacrifice of the poor developer just to get basic
functionality are greater than those of us who already have a day job. While I
love to share, create, and avoid reinventing the wheel; I'd also like others
to enjoy at least some of the career and benefits I've been blessed with.

~~~
abstractspoon
But if no one does create that app then my app never gets written... So it's
not really a working argument.

And if I charge for it and no one buys it, what then, should I give up or make
it open-source?

What if that 'person' can use my software for free and in doing so save some
money so that they can write the software they want to?

~~~
paulryanrogers
> But if no one does create that app th