[Traubenfuchs]

The analogy is flawed. There is no congestion and wear associated with software library use.

Also I am not afraid of FOSS dying or shrivelling up. From the perspective of a career software developer or manager it would be a new golden age of in-house development and library sales.

Less open source software = more jobs

[sumanthvepa]

No. Less open source software does NOT mean more jobs. It means fewer. For example, if every startup that ever started had to buy a commercial database @$100K license before doing anything, then very few startups would have evolved. And all the employment they eventually generate would not materialise. Free software was a huge factor in making the Internet possible and all the jobs it created.

[mcbits]

Shoestring startups would use a $10 shareware database, which is still a proprietary commercial database. Or they would use the stripped-down, free/cheap version of the $100k database. Or they would pirate it and scramble to make $100k before they get caught.

[sam0x17]

Congestion and wear in the form of outdated dependencies, security vulnerabilities, technical debt, and ever-changing platform/os compatibility requirements. Surely these things fit the analogy?

[tonyedgecombe]

I think you are probably right, there are a handful of companies that benefit from open source but as individuals I suspect we all loose a little by devaluing our creations.