The editor of TFIR posed an interesting question to Rob Hirschfeld, the Founder/CEO of RackN (which automates and integrates bare-metal infrastructure). Will the financial impact of the COVID-19 pandemic affect the sustainability of open source software?

Hirschfeld responded:
“The idea that big companies are maintaining open-source projects for the community good is going to get tested, as companies look for places where they can conserve revenue. I think that’s a really critical thing.”

“The same is going to be true with open-source startups that are hoping to monetize support or consulting but have no real gate across the front of their infrastructure… Companies might decide they can use the open-source project and not pay the sustaining engineers that are working in that project.

“These are really serious concerns about the whole open-source model, which relies on goodwill and free money.”

Read more of this story at Slashdot.

Source: Slashdot – Will Companies Cut Open Source Investment Because of COVID-19?