Rich Green, a Sun VP, says that the open source model is unsustainable and that we are stealing from the poor to give to the rich.  Maybe he should study the open source model and the motivation behind open source software before he stands up in front of thousands and claims Sun is going to save the poor open source developers.  It's kind of like saying that you're going to save all the poor freezing polar bears by sending them some blankets.

Don't get me wrong.  I'm all about finding ways to make open source more sustainable and about making sure open source developers can thrive.  At OpenLogic we created the OpenLogic Expert Community where we pay open source developers to help solve some of the problems enterprises find in open source software.  We want to pass on some of the revenue we make from open source software in part to make sure the ecosystem is sustainable - that those experts are available to help end users.

Rich Green also focused too much on money - open source developers create open source software for a lot of reasons and money is rarely the primary one.  They create software because they need it (can you imagine having the skills to just create the piece of technology you need instead of just wishing for it!) or because they think it's cool or because they enjoy writing code or because someone else needs it (their kids' school for example) or any other number of reasons.  I don't think any of them would object to receiving monetary rewards for the code they wrote, but in most cases, that's not why they wrote it. 

I believe the new world of software development will be less and less focused on long term programming jobs and more on short term contracts or software built to spec or even creating open source software that then creates opportunities for the developer through support, customizations and new features.

We should focus on creating more paths of communication or consolidation where paying customers can connect with developers - not on creating artificial jobs or payment.  Open source is a new way of doing software - saying it's unsustainable because it doesn't fit the model of all software is developed under employment contracts means you haven't grokked the new way - we need to look at better ways of connecting open source software developers with the needs of end users and the money will flow.  OpenLogic has taken the first step with our OpenLogic Expert Community.   I think there are a lot of other possibilities out there as well - I heard one at dinner last night! - so feel free to share them, start them, encourage them!