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Capitalism and F/OSS advocacy are not contradictory. I'm of the opinion that for certain kinds of software, F/OSS is the most efficient approach in the context of a free market.

In particular, for software that (1) has a wide audience and (2) does not provide a significant competitive advantage, it makes sense to share the development burden amongst others that need the same software. A successful open source project is cheaper to maintain because of market forces: more organizations (including your own) are able to develop expertise in the software, driving down the price of such support.




It's absolutely true that sometimes F/OSS can make sense as a tactic within capitalism.

Generally though, F/OSS is used as an example of how people don't behave rationally, in an economic sense.


Rationality in an economic sense does not mean "logical". What it means is "purposeful".




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