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Comment by acuozzo

16 hours ago

> Has anyone else noticed a cultural shift around monetization of output?

I think it's simply due to the economy being in the shitter for the non-"Capital Ownership Class".

1977-2007 was generally a good time in the US if you survived by trading your time/knowledge/expertise for a wage as most people do. This is also the time in which F/OSS came into existence.

If you had a decent job during that time, then the future looked bright and you didn't think twice about giving some of your leisure time away for free.

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acuozzo

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Aurornis  15 hours ago

> 1977-2007 was generally a good time in the US if you survived by trading your time/knowledge/expertise for a wage as most people do. This is also the time in which F/OSS came into existence.

FOSS came into existence during this time because computers and the internet became available, not because it was a specific economic situation.

> If you had a decent job during that time, then the future looked bright and you didn't think twice about giving some of your leisure time away for free.

This seems like rewriting history. Tech salaries today are higher than they were back then. There was even a whole lawsuit against companies caught suppressing wages during that time. Tech compensation went up significantly after the period you cited.

  • acuozzo  9 hours ago

    > because computers and the internet became available

    Because of Bell Labs (inventors of the transistor & Unix & UUCP & so much more) which was so well-funded by the post-WW2 US economic situation.

    The Internet? DARPA!

    DARPA? Post-WW2 US M.I.C.-driven economy.

    The list goes on and on and on. F/OSS owes so much to The Marshall Plan.

    Is this a sweeping, reductionist PeterZeihan-esque argument? Sure, but I think it's valid.

    > This seems like rewriting history. Tech salaries today are higher than they were back then.

    So? Does the future look bright to you? Most of the SWEs I know wouldn't say so.

    How bright you think the future will be has a direct impact on your long-term planning and, for many, results in prioritizing hedonistic activities in the short term, not F/OSS.