The following is not a lie of the open source ethos, but I would describe it has one of it's biggest failures: That you can sell your open source product to use

The following is not a lie of the open source ethos, but I would describe it has one of it's biggest failures: That you can sell your open source product to users and make a living from it. Of course, you can make money using open source software to provide solutions for your clients. If you run a SaaS you most likely built it on open source software, and ironically, exert even more control over your customers. But what if you simply want to sell your open source product to customers so they can run it themselves? It's a dream for many developers but impossible to achieve. There are some success stories, but they are always the exception not the norm. And they often require selling closed-source extensions that are the bits of the business that actually bring in revenue (think GitLab). And no, you can't sustain your livelihood by selling support if you are a solo developer. Besides the idea of selling support for open source products is, to most developers, the most unappealing option possible. (Charging for documentation is even worse.) The GNU Project (supported by the Free Software Foundation) still "encourage people who redistribute free software to charge as much as they wish or can" [1]. This advice might have made sense in a time of software CDs and dial-up internet, but makes no sense in a era of broadband and GitHub. [1] https://www.gnu.org/philosophy/selling.en.html https://www.gnu.org/philosophy/selling.en.html