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Originally Posted by HamsterRage
For the past 30 or so years, there have been lots of people who spent countless hours writing software simply to set it free into the world for people to use and enjoy, sometimes asking for people to donate, sometimes not. Chances are that the website the this forum runs on is driven by a web server that nobody paid a penny to use.
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this thread has derailed and now is coming full circle again. I think I've already made my point that software is utilitarian work created out of mechanic accretion of many people inputs, not useless art created by selective creative input mainly from a single person's vision.
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My point being that creativity can flourish - and really, really good stuff can come out of it - in an environment where the author doesn't get paid in money.
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Most open-source developers have other jobs and surely wouldn't be working on something if it wasn't: 1) useful for many people; 2) all the development maintenance fell onto his shoulders alone, rather than on an army of other equally benefited developers... it works because it's not creative work and it's useful to everyone. None of it is true to art.
Go ask a virtuoso pianist who's been training all day long ever since he was 5 to master his art if he's willing to give performances for free to a bunch of whining crackheads. Will they give him shelter or food? How can someone expect to commit to that kind of excellence in a given art if you're supposed to do it for free for everyone's else enjoyment?
The best you can get out of a free deal like that is something bland like Lord Giggleton's own "Bakery Blues" ebook available for 1 buck at Amazon.