Absolutely not true. I worked for a Fortune 100 for 10 years. Free software was a HUGE stumbling block for us.

>Ask the corporations who are using proprietary software atop the free software base. The free software base works on all of them. The unique software attributes of those apps are introduced purposefully to keep people locked in, to keep the cash cows in the corral, etc.


No, they do not. Go to google.com and search for something, You have no way to know what results are paid and which aren't.

>Google tells you about this up front. You can choose not to use their services. Many don't.
>
>>Does FLOSS take donations? Does it pay a salary to someone at the top?
>

You didn't address my second question. If there were zero donations, how would that affect FLOSS?

>Donations are different than fee-for-the-thing. In FLOSS a person can receive the product at no cost. That was a giving by the developers of that project. Then when someone chooses to donate, they are also giving.
>
>In the FLOSS model, all people are giving. The developers give you the software. If you choose to give back money, time, labor or whatever, you give back.
>
>In the proprietary model, developers are always only taking, and the people who buy the product are trapped as they have no choice but to "give their money" if they want to use the product. The developers pin them down in that way, and also take not just from those people who buy the product, but also take from everybody who doesn't pay them (as they are prevented from legally running the software unless they "give" their money) too.
>
>It's just not the way it's supposed to be. Proprietary software models and hoarding of what people call "IP" goes against everything God setup, and runs contrary to the very nature of "love thy neighbor as thyself". You wouldn't charge yourself for something you created. You'd be so very happy to give it to yourself. Why isn't it the same when your neighbor walks up? It's the nature of the enemy's presence in this world, and a purposeful choice to follow his cues rather than the ones God setup.