I'm using FOSS but I'd still consider myself a casual user. It seems like most FOSS I've seen is a free, buggy, alternative to mainstream software, which resolves a problem the user had.

From my perspective, (and do correct me if I'm wrong) FOSS doesnt seem sustainable. Everyone can contribute, but how do they make a living? My guess is they do other things for income. And what about the few contributors who do 90% of the work?

What if every software became FOSS? Who would put in the free labor to write the software to print a page, or show an image on screen, or create something more complex like a machine learning advanced AI software?

Would it simply be that everyone provides for each other? Everyone pitches in? What about people who have bills to pay? Would their bills be covered?

This concludes my right-before-bed psychology inquiry.

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[–] lightnsfw@reddthat.com 6 points 1 year ago

Agreed. I've directly communicated to the developers of FOSS to ask questions or report issues and they've responded and provided support. Try getting that from anyone that actually knows anything at Microsoft.

I'm not skilled enough to contribute with coding but I've been able to support others using FOSS with help troubleshooting or getting set up. I don't mind doing that for free as it helps the community to have more people using the software. I also post guides for other things I've figured out how to do for free. I'm documenting it anyway for my own reference, I might as well share it to others too.