raichu wrote on clair’s blog:

and why code based on your imagination when you can rip
off someone else’s code for free (free as in free beer)?

I code because I want to. Often, there simply isn’t anything else out
there that does exactly what I want, or it’ll be too much trouble
sifting through thousands of applications to find that one perfect
match. I code for fun, to explore my thoughts and to write them down
in a form computers and people can understand.

Instead of locking up the source code beyond customization or forcing
me to rewrite everything from scratch, open source gives me a
fantastic jumping-off point for my own applications. Open source helps
me be more creative by letting me quickly get to the interesting part,
playing with concepts without having to write my own framework or
scaffolding. At the same time, reading other people’s code teaches me
so much about how people solve similar problems and use available
tools. Their code inspires me to do better.

Open source development is like standing on the shoulders of giants,
and that’s one of the reasons why I’m so thankful to the open source
community for all the help they’ve given me over the years.