Billy Bragg and some lessons for the Open Source Drones

There is an article in Wired Magazine on the newly emerging trend for Open Source Millionaires.

In 2007, some 30 open source software companies were purchased for more than $1 billion — double the number of sales in 2005, according to consulting firm 451 Group. And 2008 is proving to be even more frenetic. In January alone, Sun Microsystems announced the purchase of open source pioneer MySQL for $1 billion

The key line to me, though, is at the end of the article, about how this monetisation impacts the Open Source collaboration model:

More important, software makers depend on the goodwill of outside developers, whom they rely on to keep updating their products. So the new open source billionaires might want to think twice about going 767 for 767 with the Google guys. For the coder drones, accustomed to being paid in warm feelings, such displays might make them take their coding skills elsewhere.

I'd call this the Billy Bragg Offset Economics Experience - the software creators dedicate their labour for free in the belief that they are creating a Brave New World, just to find that its Animal Farm and they're just the code-monkeys - and a very small number of people have potentially managed to get into a position to walk away with all the created common wealth at the monetisation event.

Now it can be a bit hard to follow, because the Open Source model relies not so much on the economics of "free" as the economics of "offset" (ie paying for it in some other way, including coder time subsidised by their actual employers), and, like in a game of 3-cup shuffle, the money is being moved around in new ways so that its harder to follow it - until someone walks off with it, of course.

There is, at the end of the day, no such thing as a free lunch, even in the "everything is free" internet.

And here's a tip - if you ain't eating at the table, you're doing the paying......while you maybe wait at it too,

So Caveat coder...