Date: June 21, 2024

Reciprocating love for FOSS

Software here refers to both software and libraries
I really wanted to include "your love" in the title, but I didn't want to generalize it.
Some people simply like it and that's fine, I guess.

Returning to the title, I can almost guarantee you've been using atleast one
Free Software daily that is under a free software license.
If you are using any Linux distribtuion, you must be using thousands of them daily.
Imagine all the small libraries and software pieces working together to make things work for you,
helping you code on some of the best customizable code editors.

All these libraries, millions of lines of code running on your PC, are maintained by
individuals living somewhere on this planet.
Just imagine the scale of it all! Isn't that awesome?

Immense Respect to all the Free software maintainers out there!!

Contribution

If you have heard of "Open Source" or "Free and Open Source", you must be knowing what
"contribution" means. Everyone's understanding of "contribution" varies.
Using software is a form of contribution. It makes maintainers genuinely happy to see someone
using their software and putting it to good use.

Appreciation

You can also appreciate there work by commenting or through reviews. That's the best thing you could do.
I consider that as a contribution. You should always show appreciation for what you depend on.

Reporting Bugs

Reporting bugs is also a contribution. You are helping to make the software safer and more reliable.

Code

Contributing to code is even better. It means you're not just relying on the maintainer to fix issues
and add features fo you. By doing this, you show respect for their time and actively make the software better.

Donation

Considering all the resources they invest, don't you think they need money? "Free" in Free software
isn't about money. If you can, donate some money for all the good work they are doing.
But don't be like microsoft. They are volunteers; they aren't working for you.
You don't any right to give them deadlines. If you're software isn't working, Go fix it yourself!

Thanks for reading

I would really appreciate feedback from all those reading this blogs. You can drop me an email about it.