How do you suggest they get paid? There’s a massive issue with most foss devs and maintainers being unpaid and burnt out while their work is used by corpos and more often than not they don’t receive a dime
This here. FOSS as a dedicated concept exists since around 40 years and we still haven’t figured out how to fund it.
The only meaningful way to fund FOSS is the Linux way: Coprorations use the FOSS in a way where they can’t sell the software directly, instead, the software is used as infrastructure to make money another way.
Microsoft, Amazon, Oracle and so on, they make money by selling cloud compute running Linux. To do so, Linux needs to be really good, so they contribute developer time too the Linux kernel and to certain tools.
The same strategy works for programming frameworks, like Angular, which is being developed by Google, because Google uses it in tons of their products.
But this doesn’t work for end customer software and it’s basically impossible to get a “grassroots” developed piece of FOSS into the corporate mill.
I think a universal basic income would make it a lot easier for devs to choose to continue/start making free (libre) software. Depending on the country, a UBI funded by tech companies - including those corpos using it without giving back.
How do you suggest they get paid? There’s a massive issue with most foss devs and maintainers being unpaid and burnt out while their work is used by corpos and more often than not they don’t receive a dime
This here. FOSS as a dedicated concept exists since around 40 years and we still haven’t figured out how to fund it.
The only meaningful way to fund FOSS is the Linux way: Coprorations use the FOSS in a way where they can’t sell the software directly, instead, the software is used as infrastructure to make money another way.
Microsoft, Amazon, Oracle and so on, they make money by selling cloud compute running Linux. To do so, Linux needs to be really good, so they contribute developer time too the Linux kernel and to certain tools.
The same strategy works for programming frameworks, like Angular, which is being developed by Google, because Google uses it in tons of their products.
But this doesn’t work for end customer software and it’s basically impossible to get a “grassroots” developed piece of FOSS into the corporate mill.
You say most, so some have figured it out then?
I think a universal basic income would make it a lot easier for devs to choose to continue/start making free (libre) software. Depending on the country, a UBI funded by tech companies - including those corpos using it without giving back.
Yeah, some of them were lucky to get funded by corporations
UBI would be nice, but I guess we’re not seeing it, same as any other improvements