[ftufek]

My guess is this isn't their competitive edge, network effects, products, data and distribution is.

In a way, it takes away their competitors edge while racing to the bottom to compete with open source. At the same time, they establish themselves as experts and keep attracting great talent that wants to publish their work openly. And it benefits all of us, so good marketing amongst developers too.

[throwaway20222]

This comment resonates with me and reminds me of T-Mobile making international roaming free; they didn’t really have a ton of business coming from that service, but knew how important it was for their competitors. They made theirs free and forced the industry down that path. (Have since added some fees back but the point is similar to your thoughts)