A lot of new technology eventually becomes boring technology, and this is because of adoption in companies exactly in the way the author is discouraging. When the new becomes boring, everyone gets to reap the benefits of the new tech.
The world of software rests on the hard work of others, whether it's open source maintainers spending their free time making libraries for peanuts, or it's people going through the pain of productionizing a new technology. Being in the boring technology club is in a sense also being in the freeloader club, never contributing back to the state of the art.
It's a good article. It makes us aware of the drive many have to use the new thing, and the negative consequences of following this drive blindly. But I'm also happy that people do it.
I don't know if freeloading is the appropriate concept here. A person making open source contributions will be happy to see people use their work. They won't worry about whether the typical user also contributes back. Most people don't have the capacity to make such a contribution.
More broadly, the software industry "freeloads" over the work of all other workers who create a safe environment where food and energy is easily available. But the whole attraction of creating a society is to make life better eventually, otherwise we might as well have never left the savannah.
The world of software rests on the hard work of others, whether it's open source maintainers spending their free time making libraries for peanuts, or it's people going through the pain of productionizing a new technology. Being in the boring technology club is in a sense also being in the freeloader club, never contributing back to the state of the art.
It's a good article. It makes us aware of the drive many have to use the new thing, and the negative consequences of following this drive blindly. But I'm also happy that people do it.