>> Most open source software is written by programmers who are full-time employed by companies which directly consume the software, at the explicit or implicit blessing of their employers. It is not charity work, any more than they charitably file taxes.
Most open source projects don't go anywhere... They have about 3 stars on Github and nobody uses them.
To say that open source is not charity work is quite unfair. The number of people who make money from their open source projects is tiny... Even among popular projects with thousands of stars. The real motivation behind most open source projects is a strong desire to learn and explore new ideas and to share these ideas with others.
The financial stuff might come later but most of the time it doesn't come at all.
Outside of the cryptocurrency space and big corporations, very few people who get into open source do so because they think it is a good way to make money... Because it's not.
I believe very strongly that most open source projects are founded on altruism. The motivation might change over time but you cannot disregard the initial intent.
I've done open source work for 10 years. I'm pretty sure I know what open source means.
You can have a look at GitHub; there are 25 million active repos on there; at least 99% of them are not sponsored by any company and nobody gets paid to work on them.
People like the OP and yourself are spreading distorted ideas which harm open source and the software ecosystem as a whole.
Putting open source projects on the same level as commercial software is not right. They are often completely different kinds of people behind them.
You're probably mostly right, but note that there is a bit of a "dark matter" issue here. A lot of open source work is done at the behest of an employer and on the clock but still appears to be a "personal" project.
I have worked on many open source projects that would appear to be entirely the work of individuals, when they are in fact working on company time.
Open source projects are founded on self-interest, not altruism: "I can do this better than any existing solution"! On rare occasions this is true, and on even rarer occasions others agree and start contributing.
>> Most open source software is written by programmers who are full-time employed by companies which directly consume the software, at the explicit or implicit blessing of their employers. It is not charity work, any more than they charitably file taxes.
Most open source projects don't go anywhere... They have about 3 stars on Github and nobody uses them.
To say that open source is not charity work is quite unfair. The number of people who make money from their open source projects is tiny... Even among popular projects with thousands of stars. The real motivation behind most open source projects is a strong desire to learn and explore new ideas and to share these ideas with others.
The financial stuff might come later but most of the time it doesn't come at all.
Outside of the cryptocurrency space and big corporations, very few people who get into open source do so because they think it is a good way to make money... Because it's not.
I believe very strongly that most open source projects are founded on altruism. The motivation might change over time but you cannot disregard the initial intent.