| > solid software that open source doesn't come close to > Open source doesn't even have an answer here. > Open source sucks here too. > open source not close > But it sucks for the vast majority of product categories used by professionals. This is all irrelevant to me. Companies should pay for the open source software they use today, not for the bad and non-existent alternatives that they don't. > Offering something for free, then calling it mooching when someone uses it for free, is simply childish emotional blackmail. Meh. As my kids would say, "That sounds like a you problem." :D Just because open source maintainers legally allow companies to mooch doesn't mean they're not mooching. ;) But I mean don't get me wrong, maintainers can be a whiny bunch sometimes for sure. ;) > open source being unable to meet market demand Open source software is a public good, and markets are so bad at efficiently provisioning public goods that this is in fact their text-book failure mode: https://www.investopedia.com/terms/m/marketfailure.asp In other words, _of course_ Photoshop trounces GIMP. Use Photoshop, by all means! :D But! What if we can evolve our markets? That's the macro opportunity here: 1. A critical mass of companies voluntarily pay for the open source software they use today. This is primarily in developer tooling as you point out (Linux, web frameworks, etc.). 2. Existing open source projects become more professional, by which I mean they get better at things besides coding, like design, sales, support, management, etc. 3. Software other than developer tools starts to be built as open source. This depends on the first two things happening. Why is this interesting? To me it's interesting because it's a slight glimmer of a real opportunity to decouple work from employment, so that individuals can work collaboratively more out of intrinsic motivation than for a paycheck. This doesn't solve all the world's problems and doesn't come without its own challenges, but I think it's an interesting and generally positive evolution of society that is fun to be a part of. :) [edit - formatting] |