I have (yet) to really figure out how to enjoy / want to make software for the sake of it, for myself, for the art of it, etc. I've succeeded in it twice, but attempted to do it hundreds of times. I really want to make software that is useful to others. I really want to be useful to others. This is almost certainly a deeper, therapy-relevant feeling. But in the meantime, I wanna make tools for other people.
Thing is, if I get paid to do so, I'm trapped by obligation. If I eventually start to disagree with the tools I'm being asked to make, I don't really have much say in the matter if I'm relying on the money to live. This kinda of disagreement generally happens over the span of years and I am privileged to have the resources to leave jobs once I hit that point. Lots of others don't, which is awful and should not be the case.
Anywho, the real thought here is that open source as uncompensated labor to make things useful to others is appealing. I can roll up, be helpful, potentially even get praised, all without needing to commit 40+ hours a week to it. There's a safety in that lack of obligation.
This is, of course, not an unqualified statement of fact. People still should be compensated for their labor. Corporations still treat open source as a load-bearing dependency and exploit them. Users often have unreasonable expectations of support from maintainers. I don't think this one viewpoint negates any of that.
Rather, I think a real, meaningful draw to participating in open source is being helpful / feeling relied upon without the weight of obligation trapping you.
