Dana Blankenhorn writes about how open source - both in writing and in software - is affecting both industries:

• The journalism model of superficial ads against superficial content no longer works.
• The programming model of paying for stuff not warrented to work no longer works.

There are new business models out there, models I've been writing about for many years. But publishers are doing quite well not paying writers, so they refuse to pursue them. And those software companies who sell services on top of free code, without helping pay the freight of people writing that code, are doing the same thing.

The solution is in our hands. Get me the funding and I'll prove it to you.

There is something of a free rider problem with business models built on top of free software. Mind you, it's a mixed bag - there are positives as well. The thing to keep in mind is that the FSF vision of paradise is every bit as flawed as the claim that Open Source is communist.