
Open Source: From Community to Commercialization - dankohn1
https://a16z.com/2019/10/04/commercializing-open-source/
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jdauriemma
> _Open source started in the mid-70s, and programmer that I am, I call this
> era 0.0 – the “free software” era. Academics and hobbyists developed
> software, and the whole ethos was: give software away for free. As ARPANET
> gave way to the internet, networks made it much easier to collaborate and
> exchange code._

> _I remember going to work at MIT or the Open Software Foundation at the time
> for work, and I had no idea where my paycheck came from. There was no
> concept of a business model, and the money behind “free software”
> development, if there was any, came in the form of university or corporate
> research grants._

Though I was not in the industry at this time, I don't think "give software
away for free" is a sufficient summary of the free software movement. Many
free software advocates - then and now - are very quick to point out that
"free" doesn't mean free-as-in-beer, it means free-as-in-speech. In other
words, freedom as an ethical and political construct, not as a statement of
value or price. I think the author glosses over this fact because it doesn't
jive with a corporate interpretation of the utility of open source software.

