other

now using drupal 6.8. (prev 5.7). no stable audio module for 6.x just yet, so all my mp3s are hidden atm. in a few days i hope.

081219 edit: should be back up again now

We all know how fantastic the open-source movement is. How wonderful it is with all these people that distribute their code, schematics, data, ideas etc. for free and in such a spirit of openness. We gain so much from it and it is all really great.

But seen from the contributor's point of view, one could ask the questions: why share your hard-earned knowledge? What are the benefits and why spend a lot of time helping unknown people - often without even a thanks in return? Why give away code that you care about and that have taken lots of effort and hours to write - for free? Is it for personal fame? Is it the communal spirit or some political beliefs? Or the lack of interested commercial companies?

My personal and perhaps slightly provocative answer is that I share because of egoism / self-interest. I found that by making something public, I force myself to write more reusable and understandable code. Publicising means I will proof-read, add comments and help-files and perhaps cross platform support. Sharing also makes me reluctant to drastic change and help fixate things like interface, protocol and functionality. So after uploading code, I feel responsible to maintain it for the future throughout system and program upgrades - whether other people depend on it or not. It is the knowledge that someone _might be using it that is enough to put in that little extra effort and spend a few additional hours.
So for me as an independent software developer / artist, open-source is mainly a vehicle for caring about my own work. And it is the simple act of making it open and public that is so extremely helpful for me.

sorry this place got hacked and someone overwrote all my media files (snd, pic, vid). i'm travelling atm and it will be a few more weeks until i can access the backup files and restore the archive.
- 071022 edit: ok everything should now be back in place.
- 071028 edit: and now updated to drupal 5.3

two photographers that have witnessed our gigs have put up some very nice photos on flickr. see munich and brisbane. pretty funny comments there too.