The beginning of every software project involves researching what is available. What product exists already, what are other parts of the solution have been solved, and where are the gaps. Software is delightful to build these days because a lot of the terrible parts have been solved and the solutions are easy to access.
Likely all developers can remember a time when they were working on a hard problem only to discover there was already a solution! Which is a great feeling but it can also be a bit strange if you take moment while the package installs to consider some total stranger just saved you countless hours of work.
Evaluating worth
There are many approaches, but no matter which one you take; understanding the value delivered by a product is hard. Since price discovery is not free many OSS developers don’t bother spend the time to do the work.
In the world of full throated capitalism, pricing guidance is not to charge what it costs to produce your product, rather what value it returns to those who want or need it. With indie projects estimating the cost of producing code is frequently impossible. So why and how much should users pay for using the software?
Often with no tangible costs to cover, software can seem free like free beer. However, as most developers can tell you it is more like a free puppy1. When free open source software delivers a massive benefit, it’s worthwhile to consider what makes it so beneficial.
Breaking down benefits
Beneficial code saves you time which means you can do more. Deliver more code, build more features, generate more revenue. These benefits are real and mostly received by the consumers of the open source code. If we believe software development will be around in the future, then it makes sense to share the benefits of open source with those who wrote the code. As hard as it is to estimate the costs of indie software, calculating the exact effect a library has on the final revenue is likely impossible.
The accounting does not need to be exact, it never will be, and many times the “freely” available software saves developers and business from having to do the math. Sending some money to a maintainer is a simple way of communicating, hey this was beneficial to me. Don’t put it off. It doesn’t need to be perfect. Start with something and do it today and make a plan to have a routine.
Joe
OSS Libraries I love
- ZXing.NET: https://github.com/micjahn/ZXing.Net
- Magick.NET: https://github.com/dlemstra/Magick.NET
- WPF-UI: https://github.com/lepoco/wpfui
Footnotes
- No charge up front, but you’ll be paying for a lifetime.
JoeFin Apps 
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