To add on to this: There's also the path that--even if you have a permissively licensed project--$corp will see your thing, like it, and decide to just copy it

To add on to this: There's also the path that--even if you have a permissively licensed project--$corp will see your thing, like it, and decide to just copy it, to overall avoid having to deal with dependencies they do not own. In other words, a lot of places are unwilling to play in anyone else's backyard. They "support" open-source, but only when it's on their terms. They might even call you, under the pretext of a job interview, and of course they want to discuss in detail the most significant project you've worked on! But you find out there are all kinds of awkward conditions on the job offer, like a cross-country move, or much lower pay than you were expecting, or no actual commitment that you'd be working on your project but just a vague, verbal statement that you could continue "during 10% time". You'll have to interview three more times with 15 more teammates. Everything gets dragged out for months and then you see them announce their own project in opposition to yours. That is, if anyone pays attention to your project. Most open-source developers are categorically averse to anything resembling advertising. Try building a thing and then posting about it on a topic-appropriate sub-Reddit. So many of them will delete your post or ban your account from the sub for "spam". The vast majority of the market--including other open-source developers--want open-source developers to write code, shut up, and go away. The minute you start talking about maybe wanting some remuneration for your efforts, you're suddenly "ungrateful" or "shilling" or "spamming" or "selling-out". (EDIT: It's happening in this very thread, further down the page)