> It's because all the stupid vendors refuse to share anything
I'm not going to defend the vendors (much). But it's not free to upstream your code. It's work. And I'd argue that it's an investment that will pay off, but you can't fault others much for seeing it differently.
I disagree. It's not free (usually) to upstream your code yourself, but there's nothing preventing you from publishing it for anyone to use. With a popular mobile phone, that'll very likely end up with someone else grabbing it and upstreaming it for you.
There's no guarantee some unpaid volunteer is going to do this kind of work for your company, but the chances are much higher if it's some kind of popular device.
I'm not going to defend the vendors (much). But it's not free to upstream your code. It's work. And I'd argue that it's an investment that will pay off, but you can't fault others much for seeing it differently.