4 ms·
>OSS work becomes just a source of free labor for large tech companies. I really don't understand why there are always comments of this nature every time this
by zxzax 5y ago
>OSS work becomes just a source of free labor for large tech companies.
I really don't understand why there are always comments of this nature every time this is brought up. Why is the size of the company relevant? Do people here not have jobs in the IT field? When people contribute to open source, anyone is able to use that code, including you. That means when you go get a job at a new company, you can keep using that code. It doesn't matter if you go to a small company or a large company.
- paulryanrogers 5y agoProbably because bigger companies have bigger wallets. Bezos can afford to kick back some of gains his engineers get from the work of others. Small shops would have less capacity to give back.
- zxzax 5y agoIsn't that the reverse of big tech companies taking free labor? That sounds more like they're giving more free labor, because they can afford to.
- d110af5ccf 5y ago> That sounds more like they're giving more free labor, because they can afford to. But the thing is, they often don't. That tends to rub people the wrong way.
- morelisp 5y agoFree software was expressly about handing power back to users and developers outside of large companies. The whitewashing of that as OSS combined with the failure to build effective cooperative structures within software development has instead resulted in companies that have more power over more aspects of our lives than any amount of proprietary software ca. 1980-2000.