You are correct when taken your value definitions of compensation and power, that FOSS is exploitative but i think you miss some important aspects here. https:

You are correct when taken your value definitions of compensation and power, that FOSS is exploitative but i think you miss some important aspects here. https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=33298158 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=33298158 This great article depicts some "loosers" as voluntary, that simply want to have a fulfilled life. FOSS is in itself a product of passion, no exploitive sociopath could ever bootstrap this. The free accessibility of software and knowledge is what enables the FOSS enthusiast and the profiteurs alike. Reducing FOSS to the latter is a valid perspective and your concerns are reasonalbe but even if there was no exploitation/corporate use of FOSS software, i assume, the maintainers would still do their unpaid thing. The expoitation comes second and is not inherent to FOSS. I wouldnt call it "worst thing on". Also, steven balmer disagrees with you :) Edit: Maybe some kind of GPL-like infectious form of enterprise could be a solution, where such a non-exploitive/worker owned company is bound to prefer business partners/suppliers that adhere to it too. Just a throw-in.