why you should be a supporting "member" of oss (hey, it works for npr)

Those who listen to National Public Radio (NPR) probably hate pledge drive season.  That is probably because they fall into one of two camps.  The first, and biggest, are those who enjoy some of the programs broadcasted, but cannot understand why they are being pestered to donate and just want the asking for funds to stop.  The second group, and more profound of the two, "get it" and are eager to help fund NPR.  They also know that if a high percentage of folks who listen in would donate on the first day of the drive then the whole thing would be over on day one and the never-ending begging could stop.

Why am I rambling about NPR anyway?  Over that last few years I've been working for a company that is 100% devoted to open source software (OSS) – specifically "open community" software such as shepherded by the Apache Software Foundation (ASF) – as well as a "user" of multiple OSS projects for years before that and I can easily see the parallels of these two models.

OSS is provided free & clear and available to all.  That said, everything costs money (or at least time!) and most sustainable OSS & ASF projects require time & money to continue to grow & innovate!

So, while no OSS-focused company is going to try to sell you on being a "supporting member" (they will try to sell your a "support subscription"!!), I personally make that request of everyone.  If you leverage OSS projects as part of your mission-critical systems, then you really do owe "the community" your support.  Heck, you don't even have to be a customer of any of the firms who are sponsoring the maintenance/innovation of your favorite framework; you can test out new versions, submit a bug, or better yet, offer back a contribution which could even be documentation if you are not ready to offer a code fix or a new feature.

Can I count on your support?