Re:Open source means surrendering your monopoly over commerc...
by danaris on Wednesday January 20, 2021 @09:36AM
(#25846880)
I can't say for sure that this was the author's intention, but I suspect what they mean is that when you write code for profit, that's just helping you—anyone else who wants to use your code, whether as code or as a program, then needs to pay you for the privilege.
When you write OSS code, it increases what's available for everyone, without cost. It's no longer zero-sum; it's actively increasing what's accessible to all without having to give something else up in exchange.
Re:Open source means surrendering your monopoly over commerc...
by Ajedi32 on Wednesday January 20, 2021 @10:01AM
(#25847169)
Writing code for profit isn't zero-sum. Even if someone is paying you for the privilege of using a piece software, they're doing so because they believe the value of what they're getting to be greater than what they're paying for it. Nearly all economic activity works that way; increasing the total wealth available to society.
Though yes, there's a pretty strong argument to be made that FOSS achieves that particular goal more effectively than paid software.
>FOSS is eating the world, and it’s a very attractive choice for businesses for a good reason. This is the reason. It increases wealth for everyone.
Does it? everyone like 100%?
IMO Idealogy is "good" and necessary but if we fail to address the fact that many people who their work supports these software empires not only don't get a dime ever but also have to endure an avalanche of support tickets and your run-of-the-mill hate mail, then no fancy ideals will save this whole thing because the situation is deeply unfair.
A common answer to this is: Let it burn, however the "burn" takes generations and people have to eat today and tomorrow. Also what comes next is very far from guaranteed to be better.
I'm always very skeptical of everything with 100% purity, being OSS or Capitalism™ .