A lot comes down to how people measure success. In a capitalist system, success is often measured as having the most bucks, be it deserved or undeserved, how t

A lot comes down to how people measure success. In a capitalist system, success is often measured as having the most bucks, be it deserved or undeserved, how they got them, or how many people were ripped off on the way doesn't matter. Measuring the success of open-source projects is more about how they managed to impact the world positively. How they make tasks easier, bring happiness, inspire people, build community, give people more control over their lives, or even save lives, etc. Therefore open source products don't need to compete with closed-source projects, because they have a different measurement of success. If an open-source engineer figures out a way that pays your bills, then this is even better, but not necessarily required for someone to be a successful open-source hard- or software engineer. It is a failure of the capitalistic system and broadly society if those engineers are not given the chance to continue their good work. And this is were I disagree, advocating for being more competitive, and giving up your morale rules one by one is "race to the bottom" behavior. This is why there are 1 dollar stores and tons of low quality crab for sale.