Monetizing Open Source: Gamifying Documentation and Support

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Show Notes

"I don't want to go into the details right now, but for the listeners, I will say that we are right in the middle of an explosive situation right now with some WordPress drama. WordPress and WP Engine are experiencing a lot of the fallout, kind of related to what we talked about in the last episode, where you start out with some good intentions and then you get in a situation where both sides kind of feel burned. And I'm not going to say that there's a perfect solution out there, But I do think that this frequent check-ins and asking, you know, "is this good for me and what needs to change for this to be good for my life?" is important."— Scott Harden

Welcome friends to The Modern .NET Show; the premier .NET podcast, focusing entirely on the knowledge, tools, and frameworks that all .NET developers should have in their toolbox. We are the go-to podcast for .NET developers worldwide, and I am not your host: Jamie. I'm Delilah and I will be recording the intro for this episode because Jamie is suffering with a throat infection.

In this episode, Scott Harden joined us to talk more about open-source, software licensing, and a little on some of the most recent NuGet package updates that .NET developers should know about.

It's important to note, Scott and Jamie talked about the WordPress controversy which was still unfolding as we recorded (which on October 19th, 2024). They brought it up not to make fun of WordPress or to add fuel to the flames, but to talk about the fact that it highlighted Scott's point about checking in with yourself regularly, as an open-source developer, about whether you're getting what you want from your public repos.

Whilst talking about open-source development and licensing, Scott brought up a question on our collective and individual digital legacies.

"And this is kind of a startling topic to bring up, but what if you just disappeared tomorrow? Because people just leave because they have some medical situation or some life situation, or they die. And this happens. This happens in software. We'll talk about some specific examples in a minute. But, you know, if you disappear tomorrow, it's interesting to think about kind of what your digital legacy would be. And, you know, you could have left this thing behind in a way that it could have been used by everyone or anyone."— Scott Harden

This episode has a lot of resources in the accompanying show notes, so if you're listening along in a podcast player make sure to head to the website (there'll be a link). That way you don't miss out on all the wonderful things Scott and Jamie talked about.

As a form of trigger warning, at around the 58 minute mark Scott talks about how his own journey with cancer brought the idea of his digital legacy to the forefront for him. Both Scott and Jamie also talk about the late Abel Wang and Pieter Hintjens. And they talk about other examples of developers who are very public with their health struggles: Jeremy Likness and (previous guest of the show) Jon Smith, who suffer with Alzheimer's disease and dementia respectively.

We understand completely if you want to skip this entire section. But we also feel that there are very important points raised whilst talking about these, less cheery, matters. This conversation makes up the bulk for the final 10-15 minutes of the episode. Aside from a teaser for the next part (which is all about NuGet packages), you won't miss anything .NET specific if you choose to skip this part.

Anyway, without further ado, let's sit back, open up a terminal, type in `dotnet new podcast` and we'll dive into the core of Modern .NET.

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Full Show Notes

The full show notes, including links to some of the things we discussed and a full transcription of this episode, can be found at: https://dotnetcore.show/season-7/open-source-and-our-digital-legacies-with-scott-harden/

Scott's Links:

• scottplot.net
• swharden.com
• GitHub
• LinkedIn

Jamie's Public NuGet Packages:

• OwaspHeaders.Core
• ClackMiddleware
• OnionArch.Mvc

Useful Links

• GNU Terry Pratchett
• OWASP Secure Headers Project
• GitHub sponsors
• Jamie on Coffee and Open Source with Isaac Levin
• The WordPress vs VP Engine drama, explained
• What we know about the xz Utils backdoor that almost infected the world
• .NET Foundation
• Finding Strength in Weakness by Jeremy Likness
• How to update a NuGet library once the author isn't available by Jon Smith
• Entity Framework Core with Jon Smith
• A protocol for dying
• Get Busy Living with Abel Wang

ScottPlot.NET:

• GitHub
• NuGet
• scottplot.net
• The charts that Scott was referring to when talking about downloads per day, can be seen here

Supporting the show:

• Leave a rating or review
• Buy the show a coffee
• Become a patron

Getting in Touch:

• Via the contact page
• Joining the Discord

Remember to rate and review the show on Apple Podcasts, Podchaser, or wherever you find your podcasts, this will help the show's audience grow. Or you can just share the show with a friend.

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You can support the show by making a monthly donation on the show's Patreon page at: https://www.patreon.com/TheDotNetCorePodcast.