This is totally fine from economic perspective. But when it comes to side projects that aren't selling to consumers, there's no reason to bring down someone if you see no value in their work. Especially when they're sharing it for free with no expectations, like most software side projects we see here hosted on GitHub.
Look at many show HN, someone sharing their little fun project, then you've some entitled users asking
What does this offer over this product of fortune 500 company? Why should I use it?
I doubt that most creators sharing their work as a Show HN have no expectations.
> Typically they expect to get something out of it that they don’t get by their project just sitting on GitHub.
Can you expand? the vast majority of open source projects don't make a dime. I don't see the ulterior motive you're talking about. Unless you mean like they get more GitHub stars?
I’m not talking about revenue. I’m talking about the fact that sharing their creation usually comes with expectations of some (at least psychological) benefit for the sharer. For example, some people want to receive praise for the project. Or they may want to attract collaborators. Still others actually do seek criticism in order to potentially improve the work.
Therefore, “sharing without expectations” doesn’t seem a likely occurrence in that context. People do have expectations, if only unconsciously, and others react with the understanding of such expectations being present.
Where do I begin ?
Satisfaction, narcissism, sense of self-worth, approval, love they never got from their parents…
It’s worse, “what does it offer for a Fortune 500 company”