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opensource doesn't pay the bills and this thread is exhibit A as to why it doesn't

• chrischen 4y ago
  Open source shouldn’t be about paying the bills. Otherwise just charge for it.
  • nojito 4y ago
    Time isn't free and the number of "issues" that many projects have to deal with due to entitlement derangement syndrome makes a maintainer's life miserable. This is why most high volume OS maintainers are either employed by companies just to maintain the code or they are younger with less life commitments.
  • blagie 4y ago
    I do open source, and I do charge for it. I make a bit less than I would on proprietary, but plenty to live off of. Any technical project requires focus, and if I paid the bills with something else, I wouldn't have time and space to focus. I've never been particularly successful with side projects until they became full-time projects. I don't know many other people who have. Side projects are great for exploring, but when one gains traction, to be successful, I've always needed to find a way to focus on it full-time (which means using it to pay the bills).