A thought-provoking piece. In the 1980s, when the concept of "free software" was first introduced, I was managing R&D at an independent software vendor. Being immersed in the issues of how to pay the people who were developing software so they could feed themselves and their families, I'm afraid I came back from attending an impassioned presentation on "free software" by Richard Stallman with a sense of disbelief.

I have a great deal of respect for "open source" gems like Linux and Postgres and the skill and effort required to create and sustain them. But ultimately, we developers have to eat and have a roof over our heads. Ultimately, we have to be compensated in some material way or most of us would starve to death.

In my almost 50 years creating software, it's been pretty obvious that the money has to come from somewhere. Nothing is really free. As far as I can tell, from up close, the difference is more about the words being used to describe the revenue, not its necessity.