[ram_rar]

I'm curious about the calculus involved in dedicating oneself to a full-time open-source project. Could someone with prior experience share insights on generating income or potential future exits solely through open-source contributions?

[QuantumG]

Freelancers typically make money by coding up solutions, leaning heavily on open-source, for individual clients (as opposed to mass-market software) or other forms of consulting. Sometimes they will become the caretaker of one or more "projects" that multiple clients rely on. That maintenance is billable. It's not uncommon for contract programmers to become small businesses. If they think they can get support from the community, open-source becomes the best option.