[mseepgood]

> but many of those big-name 'rockstar' contributors seem to have either been lured to a competing/alternative platform

Many have been hired by companies, e.g. Nokia, and now don't want to work for free again.

[ef4]

You seem to imagine that all those contributors were once unemployed. That was never the case.

The typical open source developer has always been either (1) gainfully employed at a programming day job, (2) employed to actually build FOSS, or (3) in academia.

There's at least as much open source development going on now as ever before. It's just that the attention has shifted away from desktop apps.

[vtry]

This, in a Capitalist society where housing and cost of living so high, why would you want to work for free if you can work for money?

Now if we live in a Resource Based Economy, then that is possible, but until then, money is king.

[bkor]

I think you're mixing up things.

I contribute to GNOME, and that is not "working for free". It means having a fun hobby. If I'd get money for it, it would no longer be a hobby, but work. I did hear some people say that their hobby is the same as their work. IMO, work is more restricted (try doing nothing at all for 3 months with your hobby, then repeat for your work).