Open source is great, but why should anyone expect engineers to create serious alternatives to products with millions in revenue for them for free? I'm probabl

Open source is great, but why should anyone expect engineers to create serious alternatives to products with millions in revenue for them for free? I'm probably kicking the hornets' nest here, but I see this as a naive perspective that mainly benefits big tech and VC-funded projects that can afford to fund free stuff as loss leaders or funnels into their proprietary offerings. You should want to pay for the important tools you use. That's how you know that that they're sustainable, that fixes and improvements will be prioritized, and that there's no ulterior motive for the owner of the project. It also creates a healthy ecosystem where indie devs and startups can get traction and make money when they build useful stuff. A race to the bottom only benefits the established players.