Having worked with people in industry who understand the point and value of giving back this is a little naive I would argue.
A fraction of some talented persons time from say HP is probably worth 100x first year developers who aren't paid to understand the tools the company is using.
To turn your argument on its head how much would every company have to invest to build a modern website from complete scratch in isolation? Then think why do that when you can effectively spread the cost?
Both approaches have ups and downs but I'm not sure the "someone always picks up the cost" isn't anything other than a statement of realism. It is a good reason to explain why nobody just works on a project in their basement for free and do nothing else, but doesn't role out being able to do this if responsible companies pick up a fraction of the tab they should be paying via donations.
As others have said a huge amount of the value comes from support, community and the contributions from many people, be they working on the same tools for a product they sell, to make a product or service they plan to sell or to scratch that itch on that project in their spare time they're playing with.
A fraction of some talented persons time from say HP is probably worth 100x first year developers who aren't paid to understand the tools the company is using.
To turn your argument on its head how much would every company have to invest to build a modern website from complete scratch in isolation? Then think why do that when you can effectively spread the cost?
Both approaches have ups and downs but I'm not sure the "someone always picks up the cost" isn't anything other than a statement of realism. It is a good reason to explain why nobody just works on a project in their basement for free and do nothing else, but doesn't role out being able to do this if responsible companies pick up a fraction of the tab they should be paying via donations.
As others have said a huge amount of the value comes from support, community and the contributions from many people, be they working on the same tools for a product they sell, to make a product or service they plan to sell or to scratch that itch on that project in their spare time they're playing with.