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0 pointspacala6y ago0 comments

FWIW, open source is not an absolute good. It is undercutting the ability of your peers to make a living. It is making software a commodity, such that capital rich hardware owners can make a killing. See AWS.

Commoditize your complement. https://www.gwern.net/Complement

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4 comments · 2 top-level

SquareWheel6y ago· 2 in thread

It may not be common, but it is possible to make money on open-source software. Redhat would be the largest example. Automattic's WordPress is another.

If software can be profitable whether it's open or closed-source, then isn't open-source inherently better?

Apes6y ago

I'm not sure RedHat is a good example any more, since they were aquired by IBM.

cosmojg6y ago

They continue to operate fairly independently, and there business is still fully open source. IBM executives have also paid lip service to their model, suggesting they might move towards it. (Of course, lip service is lip service, and action is action. Two different things.)

dleslie6y ago

This is what the AGLP3 is for.

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