@humanetech
"Fully sustaining ones income with #foss project" is nothing other than turning that project into commercial one, and this is never a good thing.
That is false. Most programmers are paid for R&D, they are not paid for marketing, or sales, or some perverted notion of production, or exploiting customers or anything else specific to an average closed source commercial project. They can be paid just as well and just as much to do the same on foss projects, it is the rest of the industry that need to shift to a more customer centric model, and that will happen eventually as more and more people become aware of the issues, and as the issues themselves become more severe.
As of crowdfunding today, you can only do it if you become well known/popular enough. Obviously there is no formula for that, and most people won't "qualify". Doesn't hurt to try though, as much as you can afford, keeping in mind that you are looking for people to fund you and your R&D, not providing a service or selling a product (I mean you could in addition, but that's not what programing specifically is).
@humanetech@mastodon.social
Not sure what you mean by abstract R&D. The difference between R&D and something like production, is that it is in no way directly correlated with profits. You can spend years on R&D with no tangible results, or make a breakthrough within a month. What's happening now (as far as software development goes) is that people are betting on a breakthrough to market and exploit it to the maximum (they also often do that with fads, cause it doesn't really matter when it comes to marketing and exploitation).
Just because you can't think of another way, doesn't mean it's impossible. Software sells hardware, it makes services/systems, that are otherwise impossible, possible, and even more crazy things like currency. That's ample of reasons for various corporations, governments, individuals or communities to invest in R&D, and none of it requires compromises in quality or exploitation of end users. It is so possible that is is happening even in the current climate, where misinformation is normalized to such a degree people apparently can't see past it even when it is pointed out.
TLDR: no, commercial practises that are common with software today are not natural law, or at least no more than snake oil is.
@humanetech@mastodon.social
@namark
Programmers are not paid for some abstract R&D, they are paid for working on a commercial product, and only while it's profitable. And commercial products have inherent evil properties some of which you've listed. There's no third way - any step towards profit it a step away from making high quality product which helps people.
@humanetech