Any programmers?

[ali777]

The VAST, VAST majority of FS developers do not produce code worth using...

The VAST, VAST, VAST, VAST, VAST majority of proprietary developers do not produce code worth using...

For example, you said why don't I use octave. The original development of octave started in an academic environment, thus it was paid for by the American tax payer.

I don't understand this criticism. You are opposed to technology developed by institutions who receive government money, such as public universities? If so, then you should know the internet was paid for by the US tax payer, as it was developed by the army originally.

My point is that there is a misconception that free/open source programs don't cost a dime. Someone pays for it...

It wasn't a criticism, it was an example of how the code is paid for.

Most of the useful free code is maintained professionally by professionals that get paid in one way or another. Think about it, Linus maintains linux professionally and gets paid in consultancy fees. Millions of programmers use gcc professionally and in return they all contribute towards maintaining it. Shuttleworth made his millions using free/open source code and now he's contributing to the community with his own money. It's in their interest to maintain those tools, and they pay for it.

M$ used to ignore open source as a small market, but the likes of google, ibm, academic institutions, governments, etc have all been putting money into it and it's started eating into the M$ market share. They can't be complacent about open source anymore.