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For every perceived freeloader is someone who selflessly donated their time and energy so that someone else could benefit from it and improve it if they wanted to.


I'm not quite sure how these are supposed to balance each other? User who benefits and contributes nothing is balanced by the hardworking contributor? And there is certainly not a contributor for every user.


Somebody who selflessly donated their time and effort to people who won't even make a symbolic donation as thanks. And the biggest freeloaders of them all are giant businesses and high salaried engineers working for them. Shareholders are laughing their ass off at open source developers helping them rake in millions and getting nothing in return.

In the real world, if somebody invites you for dinner you eat for free. If you get invited a hundred times for dinner without inviting back or bringing a bottle of wine, then you're a freeloader. And the guy inviting you is being taken advantage of, he's not being generous. Especially if you start charging other people for eating dinner for free at his house.

Funnily, I've noted in tech circles, that they many times in the real world do not understand reciprocity. They get invited or treated to something and say "that was great, thanks!". Then they keep getting culled from the invitation lists, because they never invite back.




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