Comment by tonyarkles | Hacker News Reader

Comment by tonyarkles | Hacker News Reader

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That's what I'm thinking too. Most of the other tools in this space (Firebug, XDebug, Speedtracer, etc) are all free and I don't expect people to suddenly start paying for performance tools when everything else is open source. Since this is thesis work, I have to publish the techniques I'm using to build this tool (although I don't have to publish the source code).

For consulting, though, I've built up a pile of expertise over the last two years. I've developed very strong skills for identifying and fixing performance problems, and this tool is just a way to make my life easier.

One possible approach I've considered is to open-source the tool. This has a few benefits and a few disadvantages:

- Benefit: this type of tool enters the broader developer eco-system. People start to recognize that focusing on single components is a bad way to solve performance problems.

- Benefit: other people can contribute to make the tool better.

- Con: competition. If other people are using the tool, then I end up with a fair bit more competition for the consulting services.

I would consider open sourcing the tool then selling your time as "the" expert. Resig's never hurting for jQuery consulting work when he wants it, I'm sure.

I wouldn't consider open sourcing it a net negative at all. You will get it out there, and as more "advanced" users start to use it and sing its praises, you will have more than enough to keep yourself busy helping out those who are too pressed for time or just have money to burn, or just can't figure it out on their own.

By not releasing it open source, you will have a much harder time branding yourself as a "proven" performance expert.

Compare these two "resumes":

"Original author and lead developer of the PerfPlus open source project, used by thousands of developers worldwide to benchmark and improve their applications."

vs.

"I'm a new college graduate with a few references and a custom tool I wrote that's worked well in a handful of cases."

I can tell you which one I'd be more willing to hire (if I had money :-)

Yeah, this is very true. Probably the route I'm going to go, just need to finish my thesis and clean the code up beyond "academic grade" :)

Make it easier to get installed/running rather than cleaning up the code for its own sake. Something working and out there is superior to the alternative.

Yes, sorry, that's exactly what I mean about "clean it up". No more 30-step dance to get all the individual pieces up and running :). Right now I'm using "screen" to launch the different pieces and keep them running, and then restart them as I make code changes.

The download-build-use cycle is pretty brutal at the moment, but shouldn't take all that much work to get it in better shape.

You're not going to sell to individuals, but companies are perfectly willing to pay for profiling tools if they're better than the open source alternatives. You can sell it on the basis that it's going to save a company X many developer hours/year.

There are free Java and C++ profiling tools, that doesn't stop Rational Quantify or JProfiler from selling.

Re: Open sourcing:

- Benefit: Releasing as open source automatically brands you an expert.

- Benefit: Far increased exposure

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