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Time was software makers could make a living just selling CD-ROMs in shrink-wrapped boxes. They'd of course augment their income by selling support, but few devs enjoyed "is your computer plugged in?" hand-holding. With everything now open-source, selling support is now all their income.

Same thing happened to music industry. Artists could live off record sales alone, but ever since napster, going on tour is no longer optional if they want to maintain a proper rockstar standard of living.




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