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0 pointsAurornis12d ago0 comments

> 1977-2007 was generally a good time in the US if you survived by trading your time/knowledge/expertise for a wage as most people do. This is also the time in which F/OSS came into existence.

FOSS came into existence during this time because computers and the internet became available, not because it was a specific economic situation.

> If you had a decent job during that time, then the future looked bright and you didn't think twice about giving some of your leisure time away for free.

This seems like rewriting history. Tech salaries today are higher than they were back then. There was even a whole lawsuit against companies caught suppressing wages during that time. Tech compensation went up significantly after the period you cited.

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acuozzo12d ago

> because computers and the internet became available

Because of Bell Labs (inventors of the transistor & Unix & UUCP & so much more) which was so well-funded by the post-WW2 US economic situation.

The Internet? DARPA!

DARPA? Post-WW2 US M.I.C.-driven economy.

The list goes on and on and on. F/OSS owes so much to The Marshall Plan.

Is this a sweeping, reductionist PeterZeihan-esque argument? Sure, but I think it's valid.

> This seems like rewriting history. Tech salaries today are higher than they were back then.

So? Does the future look bright to you? Most of the SWEs I know wouldn't say so.

How bright you think the future will be has a direct impact on your long-term planning and, for many, results in prioritizing hedonistic activities in the short term, not F/OSS.

nobodyandproud12d ago

43k karma for 3 year old user account and not a single submission.

Make of it what you will.

snozolli12d ago

Tech salaries today are higher than they were back then

Maybe at FAANGs or in the hottest spaces like AI, but I've been looking and listed salaries for senior positions are now lower than what I got paid my first year out of college in 1998, adjusted for inflation. My first job was for a small hardware manufacturer, not a Microsoft or a Google, and not in the Bay Area or Seattle.

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