[quotes not fully attributed as I have edited them]
How does open source get created. Where do these people get the time?
If you don't know the answer to that question then you shouldn't be on this list
I am on this list ;-) I still don't know the answer.
The list is open to all. I am sure Colin actually knows the answer, although it took me many years to work it out. I wrote a private paper last year in an (unsuccessful) attempt to explain it to someone who I wanted to persuade to make his software available for free. What I wrote is on http://www.felsted.essex.sch.uk/~cchd/software.html and I reckon the dynamics are unstoppable for items of sofware small enough to be encompassed by one person. I still do not completely understand how the economics are sustainable in the long term for large items (such as Linux, Apache, Mozilla and OpenOffice) that need a team of full-time programmers. But there is no evidence that the Microsoft model is sustainable in the long term, either - indeed, there are several likely calamity scenarios for that model anyway. -- Christopher Dawkins, Felsted School, Dunmow, Essex CM6 3JG 01371-822698, mobile 07816 821659 cchd@felsted.essex.sch.uk