For businesses, “free, as in speech” is equivalent to “free, as in beer” because I as a company developer can build it and use it. Even better if it’s a non-vi

For businesses, “free, as in speech” is equivalent to “free, as in beer” because I as a company developer can build it and use it. Even better if it’s a non-viral copy-left license. Why pay for the cow when you get the milk for free? There’s no incentive for anyone to pay and this has become best practice. Anyone remember the uproar over CentOS being retired? There’s this unrealistic expectation that maintainers be paid without a real business model, but that’s what needs to be done. Become a business or being part of a business, and find a cost model that is both appealing to customers and self-sustainable. All which comes with non-engineering headaches, but there’s no avoiding it. What may help here—and the missing ingredient—-is the lack of a professional, trade organization. In fact, this would solve a number of pressing problems in our industry.