Community
Articles, videos, and discussions that shaped Use What Works.
Articles
Free Isn’t Free: Dylan Beattie on Open Source, Money, and Sustainable Software
iSAQB Software Architecture Gathering
An interview with Dylan Beattie about sustainability in open source
Open Source, a relic, a charity or still the thing?
Oskar Dudycz
On how open source needs sustainable funding and support rather than being treated as free charity
Nobody pays for open source. We can force them to.
Laurie Voss
Laurie Voss, co-founder of NPM, on how to solve open source sustainability.
You can fork a package, but can you own it?
Oskar Dudycz
On managing software dependencies in a sane way
Choose Boring Technology
Dan McKinley
The seminal talk on why you should pick proven, well-understood tools and spend your innovation tokens wisely.
Build or Adopt? Stop Building Your Own Plumbing
Shawn Wildermuth
Why building your own infrastructure is almost always the wrong call, and how to recognize when you're doing it.
Own What Makes You You
Steve 'Ardalis' Smith
You should build and own the things that differentiate you, and buy or outsource the rest. Applying the Build vs. Buy question to your brand and business.
Don't Reinvent the Wheel, Unless You Plan on Learning More About Wheels
Jeff Atwood
Challenges the blanket advice and offers a nuanced take on where reinvention helps and where it hurts.
Seven Deadly Sins of Programming
Eric Gunnerson
Sin #1: building custom data access layers instead of using mature, well-supported tools.
Selecting Third-Party Libraries: The Practitioners' Perspective
Academic study
26 factors developers consider when choosing a library. A practical guide on when to build vs. buy.
Open-Source Exploitation
David Whitney
An argument that open source’s success has enabled widespread corporate use without ensuring fair support or sustainability for the people maintaining it.
Videos
Featured
Jimmy Bogard talks AutoMapper, MediatR, and Open Source
Dylan Beattie with Jimmy Bogard
Dylan Beattie talks with Jimmy Bogard about his experiences with AutoMapper, MediatR, and open source software in the .NET ecosystem.
Introducing UseWhatWorks.org
Dylan Beattie with Chris Woodruff
Dylan Beattie and Chris Woodruff discuss the origins of UseWhatWorks.org, why the build-vs-buy conversation matters, and what it means for the developer community.
Build v/s Buy
Todd Gardner
A clear-headed walkthrough of how to make the build-or-buy decision without letting ego drive it.
Choose Boring Technology (talk)
Dan McKinley
The conference talk version of the famous essay, with worked examples and audience Q&A.
Making Better Build vs Buy Decisions
Chris Bell
Practical decision framework presented at LeadDev New York 2024.
For every dev who thinks 'I could build this $30/month SaaS myself instead of paying for it' - the best thing you can do IS to build it! You learn 1. How much work it is (just for the base case) 2. Edge cases the SaaS silently takes care of 3. The cost (+pain!) of maintenance
Gergely Orosz