InfoWorld: Support is key to the new open-source economy

“Is the open-source movement going to revolutionize the software
economy? I believe so, but not the way some idealists paint it.
They behave as if the open-source and free software revolution is
the dawn of a new world order in which programmers work entirely
for the personal satisfaction of seeing others benefit from their
work. In this future utopia, we all freely share our contributions
as we tie-dye T-shirts and tiptoe through the daisies in our
copious spare time.”

“The problem with this view is that it implies that money and
personal satisfaction are mutually exclusive motives for
programming. The worst extremists can make it sound as if anyone
who holds a regular job has broken communion with the voodoo spirit
of emacs. As propitiation, they have to sacrifice weekends with the
family to code open source.”

“Well, I’ve got a news flash. Money and personal satisfaction
aren’t mutually exclusive. Here’s an even bigger shock: All
programmers want to get paid for their work…”

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