> That one guy can contribute code that is used on thousands of the top websites worldwide and not one of the numerous multi-billion dollar companies that use his code are even willing to donate an amount equivalent to an average developer's salary?
Well, every multi-billion-dollar company has a mechanism for paying for commercial software. If they need Windows or Photoshop or Solidworks they're more than happy to pay the asking price.
The problem with open source software is the asking price is zero.
Most multi-billion-dollar companies also engage in some charitable giving. They probably use their entire charity budget every year - maybe they're supporting food banks, or earthquake victims, or cancer research.
But getting the Russian polyfill guy out of jail probably isn't a registered charity. And even if it was - there's a lot of charities out there.
Some multi-billion-dollar companies have budgets to sponsor open source projects. Apple, Microsoft, Google and others donate >$125k/year to the Apache foundation, for example [1].
But that money is spread very thinly - how many developers do you think contributed to, say, a basic Ubuntu installation? And plenty of companies don't budget for this at all.
Some open source projects use options like 'dual licensing' where you have to pay to use them in closed source projects (Qt, for example) or offer support contracts or paid add-on products (Ubuntu Pro, for example)
But it's not like Qt are rolling in cash - or that the community had any great love for Ubuntu Pro.
As you'll note, all these options sound a lot more difficult than just getting a job at one of these big corporations.
Well, every multi-billion-dollar company has a mechanism for paying for commercial software. If they need Windows or Photoshop or Solidworks they're more than happy to pay the asking price.
The problem with open source software is the asking price is zero.
Most multi-billion-dollar companies also engage in some charitable giving. They probably use their entire charity budget every year - maybe they're supporting food banks, or earthquake victims, or cancer research.
But getting the Russian polyfill guy out of jail probably isn't a registered charity. And even if it was - there's a lot of charities out there.
Some multi-billion-dollar companies have budgets to sponsor open source projects. Apple, Microsoft, Google and others donate >$125k/year to the Apache foundation, for example [1].
But that money is spread very thinly - how many developers do you think contributed to, say, a basic Ubuntu installation? And plenty of companies don't budget for this at all.
Some open source projects use options like 'dual licensing' where you have to pay to use them in closed source projects (Qt, for example) or offer support contracts or paid add-on products (Ubuntu Pro, for example)
But it's not like Qt are rolling in cash - or that the community had any great love for Ubuntu Pro.
As you'll note, all these options sound a lot more difficult than just getting a job at one of these big corporations.
[1] https://www.apache.org/foundation/thanks