It's not that they are directly compensated for their work, it's that the money problem is solved, even if from an external source. Linus Torvalds worked on Li

It's not that they are directly compensated for their work, it's that the money problem is solved, even if from an external source. Linus Torvalds worked on Linux for a long time before being directly compensated for it, but he probably would never have done so had he needed to worry about whether he could afford his next meal and rent that month.