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End goal of complaining that no one pays for their efforts.

Validation, often. Stars and installs make self-worth integer go up, etc.

Greed, sometimes. Gotta get those usercounts high to get acquihired / to sell out / to flip on the paid subs for formerly free features.

I can’t remember the word for “prosocial through lowering cost to zero” is but sometimes that too.

This works for a while. Then you - the programmer - grow up.

Wise customers know this.

But a programmer is born every minute.

Not so much these days.

> I can’t remember the word for “prosocial through lowering cost to zero” is but sometimes that too.

Wiktionary:

Benevolent, altruistic, unselfish, beneficent, philanthropic, selfless

Philanthropic! Thanks.

> at they become the most popular OSS toolkit, with an end goal of … what?

Look at how any "FOSS + VC + for-profit" company in the last 5-10 years worked out, and you'll see the playbook.

bait and switch

Xz