Comment on "I support it only if it's open source" should be a more common viewpoint
phoenixz@lemmy.ca 2 days agoI don’t mind paying for software.
I want free as in freedom, not free as in beer. Though a free beer might not be the worst thing in the world
themeatbridge@lemmy.world 2 days ago
Sure, and I recognize that it’s not a great metaphor. But I’m thinking about it from the developer side. Open Source software is not motivated by profits, and profit motivates a lot of developers. Some of the best software projects were actualized by a few committed individuals who were passionate about the purpose. But then you have Microsoft which tries to tie bonuses to lines of code, and ends up with bloated garbage because peoples is peoples.
Open source is good, in the same way free lunches for school children are good. The benefits are innumerable. But it’s not feasible to expect every developer to commit to open source projects when their efforts might not be rewarded.