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I'm not sure why this is supposed to be a meaningful difference. We write open source software and make money doing it. Why does it have to apply to every kind
by ddevault 6y ago
I'm not sure why this is supposed to be a meaningful difference. We write open source software and make money doing it. Why does it have to apply to every kind of software project to be valid?
- mwcampbell 6y agoBecause if there are software projects that can't practically be free software while bringing in enough money to fund development, then free-software advocates should acknowledge that sometimes proprietary software is a perfectly valid option. Put another way, while free software is good and should be encouraged when it's practical, I don't think it's right to insist that proprietary software is bad and should always be avoided. The companies that abuse the power that comes with the proprietary model are well-known (and thankfully I no longer work for one of them). But some developers of proprietary software are just trying to develop good software while making a living, the only way they've judged that they can. Also, the hosting business model sometimes leads to misaligned incentives. I don't believe Sourcehut falls in this category. But consider, if a developer of an open-source package makes their money from hosting, then what incentive is there to make the package easy to self-host?