I’m curious as to how many people make a living doing Applescript (or it’s a major part of their duties).
I develop workflows in my day job centered around Applescript and my coding skills are part of what has kept me well employed for years. I have been a user and advocate of MacScripter for many years (though I’m usually too busy to hang out here very much). I have offered help when time and experience allowed.
But I often feel there is a line being crossed when people ask for complete solutions to a problem. This is akin to a bride letting Uncle Henry shoot the wedding and the local photographer goes out of business because everyone is doing similar things (and as an artist/photographer I have felt the burden of this situation as well). Being helpful is great - I do support in my day job as well as a with a freelance contract - but what about people who could make money with their skills? Why would anyone pay someone to code something when someone here will give them the solution for free (and likely with a less optimal solution since it’s derived from purely anecdotal information. No offense to anyone but I think we could all agree that there’s always more to the story than people post).
I’m not arguing the point for myself on this - I have the great fortune to be paid by a multi-national company to do this stuff but what about people who would like to be able to do this for a living? Or even just make some extra money to fill in the gaps a little?
I’m just really curious what peoples’ stance is on it.
Thanks for the consideration.
Jim Neumann
BLUEFROG
Doesn’t that sentence ask and then (in italics) answer the basic question, Jim? My next door neighbor sheared a pin in his snow blower the other day and because he has neither the tools nor the skills to replace it (or even find it), I fixed it. I thus deprived some guy who services snow blowers of being paid to do it by your argument. I didn’t provide the other services the snow blower guy might have, like tuning it up a bit, but, on the other hand, I had his blower working again a few minutes after the failure and the snow blower guy would have taken much, much longer. Free is tough to compete with, but on the other hand, for pay can provide richer, more tailored service, typically.
On the third hand, why do folks like me, StefanK, Nigel Garvey, and others do it? I suspect that we enjoy the challenge of a new problem (or recognize one we’ve already solved), and get some pleasure from helping. It’s my hobby. Should I limit my hobby because it interferes with someone else’s living; particularly when I don’t even know if that someone else exists? Trickier than you think. 
I agree with your story, Adam. Here’s the divergence in my mind. said neighbor gets his snowblower fixed by you but then says “Hey, can you take a look in my garage? I’ve got a ton of other stuff to be fixed.” Isn’t this infringing on the livelihood of the mechanic in a much deeper way?
Like I said, I like helping out (in fact I just got off the phone with a previous colleague who has a challenge that I will answer) but some of these requests go beyond needing a simple “replace the pin” fix. They are more like “Hey, it snowed and I don’t want to shovel. Adam, can you build me a snowblower?” This is where the mechanic (or in your case, the Engineering guy :D) should be making his money. Does that make more sense?
Respectfully,
Jim
Indeed it makes sense. I have never given free engineering advice except to engineering school students. I ran a consultancy in parallel with my teaching duties for most of a 40 year career, and for 8 of those it was my full-time employment. As you point out, paid advice carries responsibility with it. If I post a solution on a forum, I take no responsibility for its effects on your machine and generally don’t include much, if any, error checking. If I were to write the same workflow for a paying client, I’d probe their problem and expectations very carefully (clients rarely know what they really need because they can’t properly evaluate their difficulty), and I’d provide follow-up support.
Hello,
For me, this is simply Pleasure and a way to learn… but I can understand how you feel.
I teach other adobe products and quark and dabble with FileMaker and a few other applications. The forum has been great for me in trying to take things to another level. Since I have never profited on anything I have ever gotten hear, I don’t feel bad using the forums or asking, as long as folks are willing to help. I did have one script that was part of a fileMaker job a few years ago and that was part of a paying job and I hired a professional scripter to do it for me, as like the last reply, I needed the guarantee that it would work, and some commitment to fixing it if it didn’t.
I try to help out on the adobe forums when I can, as that is more my are of expertise. I think sometimes it is like that phenomenon where you are more than willing to help a stranger than a friend. Although that sounds awful, it is just that feeling of being taken advantage of by people who know you. That is why places like these are great. People are trying learn and understand more. But, like everything else in life, some will take advantage, and there is little to prevent that, other than not offer the service, so it’s a tough call.
I would hope if anyone was to profit from something here, that they would offer either a way to pay the person who helped them or donate to the site or something. That would be the right thing to do.
And for Adam, like myself, I enjoy a challenge and helping people, so I think this is harder to decipher than we think. I charge clients for the same advise I give for free on the forums, so I don’t know the answer. Again, I just hope people for the most part do the right thing.
Barbara
Jim,
I don’t make my living with AppleScript, but I do use my own code on the job and I have a few ideas that I may develop and sell later. I guess I’m somewhere in the middle.
I do see that some folks go a little bit further in answering questions than maybe they should. When questions are overly specific”even going so far as to place requests in numbered lists”you can tell that the person hasn’t done a lick of work to understand AppleScript or approach their problem without major hand-holding. That said, I’ve gotten stumped on a couple things, and have been the beneficiary of assistance from others here, and am grateful for the knowledge and helpfulness.
Yeah, I’m probably in the minority since I’m not training people to script (seminars, on-site, etc.) but am actually paid to research, write, and maintain a codebase for a company.
I hope no one gets the idea that I’m coming down on anyone in here (in general or specific). And the amount of help any person gives is entirely a personal decision. (I posted this thread and minutes later cobbled up a snippet for someone in an other thread). One of the great things about MacScripter: the speed and amount of help is incredible. I was just thinking about the people that love coding and wish they could make some money with it too.
Cheers,
Jim