There’s been quite a bit of broo-ha-ha recently over the slightly dubious use of hidden articles to generate some cash for WordPress. WordPress
is pretty much the number one free “personal publishing software”, used
by many people as a simple and powerful blogging tool. The story is a
bit complicated, but the response from WordPress head honcho Matt brings to light a problem that will become more prevalent over the coming years.
How are people that give away stuff for free going to keep the wolf from the door? Open Source,
and therefore most of the time, free software is – I believe – going to
become more and more important on people’s desktop computers, just as
it has been on servers for many years. How the business model would
work to make that commercially viable I don’t know.
I’m pretty lucky as I have a good job and a wonderful family that together allow me to support myself and spend time doing the things I enjoy. Hopefully that situation will continue for a long while.