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by sheetjs 3030 days ago
@patio11's recent tweetstorm touched upon the core point

> Most open source software is written by programmers who are full-time employed by companies which directly consume the software, at the explicit or implicit blessing of their employers. It is not charity work, any more than they charitably file taxes.

https://twitter.com/patio11/status/936629310785437696

The actual monetization, as the post explains, comes from related products and services. The presented Oracle analogy to IAP is fascinating:

> Oracle offers a basic version of MySQL under a GPL license, with additional closed source – and expensive! – add-ons that better fit specific businesses’ needs. The allegory here is in-app purchase: a basic experience that gets the user invested in your product, with value-added options that are more attractive because of said investment