[Gllug] Questionnaire - "The motivations of developers who participate in OS projects"

[salsaman at xs4all.nl]

On Fri, July 1, 2011 01:56, A.Kaperonis at lse.ac.uk wrote:
> Dear OS developer,
>
> I am an MSc student at the London School of Economics and I am doing
> research on the motivations of developers who participate in OS projects.
> The results from this questionnaire will be used within my MSc
> dissertation as empirical evidence.
>
> The questionnaire is designed in such a way that it will take only a few
> minutes to fill in. Please be assured that all responses will remain
> confidential and secure.
>
> Please answer all the questions.
>
> Thank you in advance for your time and support. You can start with the
> survey by clicking on the following link:
>
> http://questionpro.com/t/AGYOdZKm6G
>
> Please contact A.Kaperonis at lse.ac.uk with any questions.
>
> Thank You
>
> Anastasios Kaperonis
>
> Please access the attached hyperlink for an important electronic
> communications disclaimer: http://lse.ac.uk/emailDisclaimer
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>


Hi,
I was about to participate in your survey when I noticed that it appears
to be a piece of propaganda. First of all you only ask about Open Source
software. Personally I only participate in Free Software projects, a
subset of Opens Source, which guarantee the rights enumerated in the
(L)GPL. Fine, that is a small point since FOSS is a subset of OS. However
once I reached question two it left me fuming in anger.

Question: 2. I spend most of my programming time as a:

A. Salaried programmer.

B. Contract programmer.

C. Hobby programmer.

D. Student.

E. Other.


The implication of course is that if you are not paid to do programming,
you are a mere "hobby" programmer. May be coincidence, but this is the
exact same terminology found in Microsoft's so-called "Open Source"
licenses. Having worked for many years as un unsalaried, professional Free
Software developer I find this extremely insulting. Ah yes, you left the
"other" option there, but the implication is still there.

Perhaps I am overreacting (its early in the morning where I am), but I
would appreciate it if you could phrase these questions differently, e.g.

A. Salaried programmer.

B. Contract programmer.

C. Unpaid programmer (full time).

C. Hobby programmer (part time).

D. Student.

E. Other.



Regards,
Salsaman.


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