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What is the goal of FOSS? (lemmy.ml)

submitted 1 year ago by [email protected] to c/[email protected]

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I'm unbiased towards the subject. I'm genuinely curious about how long-term FOSS ideology would work.

I'm using FOSS but I'd still consider myself a casual user. It seems like most FOSS I've seen is a free, buggy, alternative to mainstream software, which resolves a problem the user had.

From my perspective, (and do correct me if I'm wrong) FOSS doesnt seem sustainable. Everyone can contribute, but how do they make a living? My guess is they do other things for income. And what about the few contributors who do 90% of the work?

What if every software became FOSS? Who would put in the free labor to write the software to print a page, or show an image on screen, or create something more complex like a machine learning advanced AI software?

Would it simply be that everyone provides for each other? Everyone pitches in? What about people who have bills to pay? Would their bills be covered?

This concludes my right-before-bed psychology inquiry.

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[–] [email protected] 6 points 1 year ago

What if every software became FOSS? Who would put in the free labor to write the software to print a page, or show an image on screen, or create something more complex like a machine learning advanced AI software?

Would it simply be that everyone provides for each other? Everyone pitches in? What about people who have bills to pay? Would their bills be covered?

To your questions in the second quoted paragraph, basically, yes. In a just society, each person's needs would be accounted for already. The labor you contribute back to the society would be according to your own passions. You would find something fulfilling to do with your time without having to worry about having a bullshit job to avoid homelessness or starvation.