[CaptArmchair]

That's conflating a licensing choice with a business goal. Slapping an open source license on code isn't a business model. Licensing choices do inform what kind of business model the author of the code is going to follow.

The main difference between open / closed source is that the IP is or isn't sold for a licensing fee itself. If the latter is true, you need an alternate business model. One alternative is selling something tangential to your project: typically expertise in installing, operating, maintaining the code. Consultancy. Another alternative is leveraging open source software to sell a service: hosting, CRM, managed services, social media, etc. etc.

All of a sudden, open source becomes very profitable.