> Most people developing free software (probably including both the submitters and recipients of this patch) could make a lot more money elsewhere
I think most free software developers are normal corporate employees. I work on tons of free software as my job, like most of my peers, but that’s normal in the industry. I don’t consider myself a free software developer.
Fair--depending what "most" is weighted by, I may have overstated, and a Google employee who happens to get assigned to work on Chrome stuff is certainly making no personal sacrifice.
I meant independent volunteers or people working for free-software-focused companies (which I believe usually offer well below FAANG-level compensation, especially at the high end, though still enough to live quite well). Excluding hardware vendors porting Linux to their own products, I believe the core kernel developers tend to fall in to that last category. I have no specific knowledge of their individual compensation, but the technical leads responsible for closed-source projects of similar scope make incredible amounts of money.
I think most free software developers are normal corporate employees. I work on tons of free software as my job, like most of my peers, but that’s normal in the industry. I don’t consider myself a free software developer.