I have a lot of apps on this site. And several of them are quite good, if I do say so myself. But there is always room for improvement. I frequently get suggestions on how to make something better. If I had an infinite amount of time, I would implement all these suggestions. But I don’t have that kind of time. So improvements either have to be postponed indefinitely or somebody else has to write them.
That brings me to the Open Source approach to software development. Technically, my apps are already open source because I post the source code. But when it comes to updates, there is no way for an outside party to contribute to the app.
Things like SourceForge have been suggested to me in the past, and it’s a good suggestion. But a lot of details need to be worked out before I head down that path. The main problem is that, as far as I know, Autodesk doesn’t have a good policy for this sort of thing. I would need to work out the details with my bosses, product managers, legal department, etc. The whole thing could get shot down at any point.
Of course, the whole effort would be for nothing I’m the only one contributing to it. There is not much incentive for somebody to contribute on a free app. It might be better to ignore open source and just focus on mechanisms that offer a monetary rewarded. For example, I know that some consulting companies are modifying my apps for specific customer contracts. I’m fine with that. I’m also fine with somebody taking my app, adding features to it, putting it up on the Vault app store, and charging for it.
If you have an opinion, please fill out the survey below. I’d love to hear your thoughts.
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