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Comment by burnt-resistor

2 months ago

Well, they need to pony up around $150k or so to keep it alive rather than freeloading off the work of others.

It’s not freeloading to accept a gift given freely.

  • It is not freeloading, but correspondingly you cannot demand anything from a gifter. Not even "could you please look at it". They might. Or they may ignore you. Or they may delete their repo and go away to the wild. Up to them.

  • Yet in real life gifting, we expect reciprocity and have norms. (E.g., if little Johnny doesn't bring a present to Sally's birthday party, he never gets invited back.)

    Asymmetrical gifting is only acceptable with a power imbalance; if the boss gives an employee a gift, it need not be reciprocated.

    FOSS actually turns this on its head, since unpaid volunteers are giving billionaires like Bezos gifts. Worse, people argue in favor of it.

  • I've never once expected someone to repair a gift they gave me because I found a flaw in it. That's when it becomes freeloading.