Re:The User Always Loses
by jokethrowaway on Saturday September 05, 2020 @12:08PM
(#24384588)
That's not sustainable. Most OSS nowadays is produced by big companies looking at OSS as a way to retain or capture more engineering talent.
It somehow works for small individuals because having a nice github can be useful to get a job or bypass the ridiculous interviewing process of the day.
A few heroes barely live off donations from wealthy companies and patreons, others sell development courses on the side.
The real problem is that companies in our society grow too much and we end up with a few outliers companies and hordes of employees. Unfortunately, as soon as a company gets money or becomes successful enough to lobby the government for more regulations, they can effectively make it harder for competitor to pop up. The fact that starting a business is a logistic hassle because of corporate taxes is another barrier.
I'd like to see more micro companies and individuals providing value to society instead of giant corporations.
OSS can be a part of that, but it doesn't have to be.
Re:The User Always Loses
by saagarjha on Saturday September 05, 2020 @01:38PM
(#24385370)
The parent comment was specifically talking about free software, not open source software. The latter is commonly produced by large companies, but the former is much rarer.
It somehow works for small individuals because having a nice github can be useful to get a job or bypass the ridiculous interviewing process of the day.
A few heroes barely live off donations from wealthy companies and patreons, others sell development courses on the side.
The real problem is that companies in our society grow too much and we end up with a few outliers companies and hordes of employees. Unfortunately, as soon as a company gets money or becomes successful enough to lobby the government for more regulations, they can effectively make it harder for competitor to pop up. The fact that starting a business is a logistic hassle because of corporate taxes is another barrier.
I'd like to see more micro companies and individuals providing value to society instead of giant corporations. OSS can be a part of that, but it doesn't have to be.