Why would a software developer want to make his software open source?

Answer 1

Every developer would have their own reasons for doing so but here are a few possibilities:

1) Charity. Developer wishes to give something back to the community/world just as someone would volunteer their time at a homeless shelter.

2) Fun. Many people write code for the sheer enjoyment of it. People who have coded as a hobby may simply wish to share their hobby creations with others the same way a street musician wants to share his music. Also those who write open source software pro bono enjoy the opportunity to practice their craft with full freedom of direction or in other words they can create whatever they want without worrying about customers and bosses telling them what to do.

3) Accomplishment. Many coders want to prove their prowess to others or to just themselves and creating successful open source software can do that. Others simply feel a sense satisfaction and accomplishment from knowing that other people are using their software for productivity and enjoyment and may want to complement extend that feeling they get from their professional work by writing open source software in their spare time.

4) Money. There are ways to make money from open source software. It can be done. Open source software can be a successful business strategy.

5) Ideology. Some developers of open source software believe that proprietary software is wrong and immoral. You can read all about this point of view at fsf.org.