Uh... I write *tons* of Open Source software, every year and am paid ***handsomely***.
Another point along the same lines: Most software is simply NOT sold. Many employers pay a salaried programmer to develop lots of in-house software -- never intended for retail shelves.
It would be hard to estimate the percentage, industry-wide. But in *my* 20-year careed as a programmer, only 1% of the total lines of code I've written were for a retail product. Thousands of lines of code I wrote years ago are still being used, today -- on PCs on factory floors, on thin clients in warehouses, by the guy who reads your gas or electric meter, by the teller who cashes your check, etc.
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Re:Make Money?
Posted by: soloport on August 29, 2003 02:45 AMAnother point along the same lines: Most software is simply NOT sold. Many employers pay a salaried programmer to develop lots of in-house software -- never intended for retail shelves.
It would be hard to estimate the percentage, industry-wide. But in *my* 20-year careed as a programmer, only 1% of the total lines of code I've written were for a retail product. Thousands of lines of code I wrote years ago are still being used, today -- on PCs on factory floors, on thin clients in warehouses, by the guy who reads your gas or electric meter, by the teller who cashes your check, etc.
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