[meiraleal]

Linux and git, probably the two most successful free software programs out there were both created by one person (the same person) WITHOUT relying on a "profit-driven ecosystem". His code made trillions of dollars but that wasn't what motivated him nor he got some % as those new kids (and their VC parents) joining FOSS wants to.

[thfuran]

He could not have made Linux into what it is today without additional contributors, and many of those contributors have been in the employ of companies that use Linux.

[meiraleal]

Yeah so he helped create a system where contribution beats direct monetary benefit. Microsoft tried hard with hundreds of billions to prevent Linux success, the fact that it spends so much money on it nowadays proves that no amount of money could have stopped Linux success.

[thfuran]

You think the companies that are paying employees to contribute are doing so out of sheer benevolence and not because they derive monetary benefit?

[meiraleal]

No benevolence at all, pretty much the opposite. That's my point since the beginning.

[kriops]

Linux and git were examples I was thinking of. He could still have made them, but most of their value relies on interactions with commercial offerings. Not to mention technology financed on the back of taxed profits. And their availability to regular people (notice how I talked about "making technology available at scale") would be diminished beyond belief.

But yes, people make the most incerdible stuff without being paid to do so.