Not all open source developers are poorly paid. I think it's a free market, and I don't see that as a problem. I don't think open source developers are really being exploited, because typically they are capable of earning what they need if they want to. An open source developer can simply work for a for-profit company on proprietary software if they don't think they get paid enough, for example[1]. And the industry will pay what they need to get the software they need.
[1] That they might prefer to work on open source is their problem, and not one for the economy, I think; I say this as an open source developer who gets paid to work on open source and prefers this over working on proprietary software.
> That they might prefer to work on open source is their problem, and not one for the economy, I think;
I think it's a problem for the economy, not because of individuals' preferences, but because I think there is an overall economic benefit to work being open source.
Not to mention the countless societal benefits.
Re:Open Source Bait and Switch
by newtritious on Monday September 26, 2022 @04:11PM
(#32987715)
In the scenario you would like to incentivize, who gets to decide what labor is compensated?
- Is well-compensated while working for a for-profit company where the codebase is proprietary.
- Works in open source but is poorly paid or not paid at all.