Open source

Libretro Lakka
#1

I think I am beginning to understand the open source spirit. It is rooted in straight faced, good to God apparent intentions of a community project that is open to all. What makes it appealing; is the well presented feeling that everyone is working together to build a much greater entity than otherwise could be accomplished alone. And the joke lies in there.

Its obvious (or should be obvious) that when contributors get closer, more intimate with their project., the less “open source” it can ultimately be. For undoubtedly people get possessive, and rightfully protective of their physical literal work, and intellectual product…

So it would seem that these “open source” projects are only so, until obvious worth is noticed and monetary value can be loosely established. As soon as the project melds into financial benefit territory the actual “spirit” is lost as no one wants to witness other individuals capitalizing on their work.

The course of action would not be to redirect human instinct in this matter but to be more forthcoming with the reality of our nature.

An open source project begins with the best of intentions… until it is clear who is working the hardest, contributing the most, and who should reap (any and) all the benefits.

I think the hypocrisy is self obvious.

P>S> … I believe the “open source” should exist literally for team Glory… and for other (unknowledgeable ) persons to get into the field of interest. If new people hit a dead end, then the inspiration is lost upon them.

PP>S … I am specifically speaking of the linux command line initiative and arrogance.

#2

And perhaps i have misunderstood the concept of “open source.” Maybe it is just code that is displayed for all to ponder upon and maybe figure out. Its still an “inside crowd” type of delivery method.

What I am trying to uncover is code that is written for an obvious beneficial goal that is in turn: also designed to teach you about coding/ computer language/ and programming. So not only is the code available… each question about the code is a leaping stone for education and excitement about the field.

It seems like open source is still a players club as opposed to a school.

#3

RetroArch is a big, complex project, so it’s hard to jump in and tell what’s going on. However, there are may small, simple open source projects that you can look at and learn from. Likewise, there are many tutorials and learning projects that incorporate open source code with the specific goal of helping people learn to program.

#4

That makes sense. I find discomfort in things I cant entirely understand. But this project is beyond anyone’s full grasp?

Like at a certain point the creation outgrows the comprehension of the creator(s)?

Im just being a little silly and philosophical :smiley:

#5

That certainly can happen. If you have a lot of people working on a complex project, it’s very possible that no single person has an understanding of every individual component.

Even more common is that people can forget how their own code functions over time. That’s part of why it’s important to include informative comments in one’s code: so you don’t have to reverse engineer your own work if you need to change something in the future.