3 ms·
Open source software is infrastructure, not a commodity. Anyone has access to build on top of it. There is no question that open source enables enormous amounts
by jerkstate 8y ago
Open source software is infrastructure, not a commodity. Anyone has access to build on top of it. There is no question that open source enables enormous amounts of commerce, probably more so than equivalent closed-source software would. In that way, open source very much does make money in the same way that highways and airports make money.
- jchallis 8y agoTollroads and airports both have gate fees. OSS does not have gate fees. How are these the same?
- jerkstate 8y agoYou're torturing the metaphor. But OSS development on large important projects is now almost completely subsidized by the big and small companies that use it for their own ends and contribute much of their work back to the common good. So the companies that make use of it in the biggest ways do pay for it, but that effort and money contributes to a common that others can use (for only the cost of time in hobbyist cases).
- solomatov 8y agoThere's a problem. It's relatively easy to administer toll gates. It's not so easy to administer software licensing. We might get what it used to be with proprietary software 10-20 years ago, when there were no transparency about pricing etc, and it all resulted in "we will look at you and decide how much we will be able to make you pay" kind of pricing.