Many artists give away their work. Scientists give away their work. The DIY community and maker community give away their work. And so on... programmers aren't unique here.
Framing all of OSS as simply "free labor to enrich massive, incredible wealth companies" is just wrong.
That being said, I do agree we can certainly do a better job of supporting OSS work. I hope to see continued innovation in this area.
Funny you should mention this. Look into the median salaries of these professions, not the outliers.
I am not against OSS but when something is given away for free, people will have the perception that it has less value. Once that thought has anchored, no one will be willing to pay more in the future.
absolutely nothing. Which is indeed one particular type of OSS model. The best kind imho.
But this thread has been talking about business models which involve using OSS to get a customer in the door who will then pay the business for other things (such as hosting/services). Under the OSS, this business model seems to be failing as major corporations start to encroach.
I can only do so many things at a time. I can't possibly run as many businesses at a time as it would take to charge money for all the code I write. So, why not give it away?