EVE Technology Lab

I am very curious as to why and the reasoning behind why people release there code to the public.

If you could take a minute to explain if you have and why that would be awesome.

I am adverse to releasing mine, but that's probably more that its a dogs mess and maybe future projects that are more clean I would release.

FoxFour hit two of the big things, which I will confirm. It's great to be able to audit code so you know that the software is not doing anything sketchy with your API keys (or virus'ing your system or whatever). And it's super great to have other people contribute to your projects. (I know I've done some small work on projects I like that are open source.) Even if the only other people who work on your project are alliance- or coalition-mates, having the source easily accessible is better. Every hoop that someone has to jump through to get code access decreases the amount of help you will get.

But, another big reason for publishing source is altruism. (Yes, I know, in Eve this idea is shocking.) The main project I am working on right now is an auth system for managing alliance member keys and providing centralized access to alliance applications. Right now, if a new or small alliance wants software like this but doesn't have a serious IT division, they are stuck. So, in the spirit of helping out newbros, we're working in the open and trying to create software that anyone can use. Obviously it will be a while before we can reach the level of polish and maturity of the software that the big blocs have. But for every new alliance that uses the software, maybe we will gain one or two more people who can help make it better :)

(If you're curious, this is the project: https://github.com/bravecollective/core )

This is also a really big one I think. There are a lot of things running right now that would be dead and gone if they had not been open source.

I have chosen not to open source my current projects, the infamous API checker and PocoStats.
For the first I decided against it as a matter of principle, I've put WAY too much time into it, it's kind of become my baby, so I want it to stay mine, sort of. If I ever decide to discontinue the development I will release the source though.
The latter I decided against open source for practical reasons. It's a very delicate system woven into multiple things running on my server. Offering support for that, which will be expected if you release the source, is simply something I do not have the time or energy for. In theory everyone should be able to deploy it fairly easily, but reality is always different.
Strangely enough, the one with the most potential for abuse (the API checker) is much more trusted than the one with virtually no risk. (PocoStats) Possibly because the API checker is run locally on the user's computer, but then wouldn't the risk of a trojan or something increase?
Whatever the case, I generally prefer open source as well, for all of the reasons mentioned above. I'm currently working on an alliance management system, (which will be open source once it's ready for a release) integrating a lot of open source products. (Openfire, phpbb, mumble, even Teamspeak, sort of.) That would not be possible if said products were not open source.

well, personally i have opensourced just a part of the things i'm doing,
for the libraries (pheal/perry/eaal) thats a no brainer - there is no benefit in keeping them for myself, while others can benefit a lot from using them, and the libs benefit from other people working on them as well.

for other stuff that i've opensourced, there is also always the hope to find people who want to join in and help with it - after all there is a limited amount of time that you can spend solo on something.

some stuff i'm not putting opensource, simply because there wouldn't be any benefit. Say opensourcing 3rdpartyeve.net, would - if anyone would pick it up - just result in more pages of the same sort, which would make it harder for the user to find anything.

Cheers for all the replies, really has put perspective and understanding why people do it on an individual level and some great examples etc.

I choose not to open source my projects.

This is because most of the programming I do for my eve related tools is stuff that falls into the category of "just good enough to solve my personal problem, and in no way intended to be used by other people".

My experience with the open source community is that it's full of elitist jerks, and I don't like being criticized because I chose to solve the problem in a meatball fashion and move on rather then build a marble tower to the heavens.