Open Source Profiteering

The cluster centers on criticism of companies and individuals profiting from open source projects or shared resources without contributing back or prioritizing user benefits over financial gain.

📉 Falling 0.5x Open Source
4,150
Comments
20
Years Active
5
Top Authors
#208
Topic ID

Activity Over Time

2007
2
2008
20
2009
51
2010
76
2011
94
2012
119
2013
126
2014
112
2015
135
2016
160
2017
216
2018
242
2019
302
2020
314
2021
390
2022
466
2023
477
2024
377
2025
442
2026
29

Keywords

PR EA JRRT profit profits profiting money optimize making penalize payer gain making money

Sample Comments

squigz • Apr 30, 2024 • View on HN

Profiting off it is not the right thing to do.

freeone3000 • Jun 26, 2025 • View on HN

What’s the point in people using it if all that profit ends up in someone else’s pockets?

ninjathedrago • Oct 18, 2023 • View on HN

The people using it for profit and not giving anything back.

rayiner • Aug 12, 2015 • View on HN

They're not making it better out of the goodness of their hearts--they're profiting from the situation.

userbinator • Dec 15, 2025 • View on HN

"enhanced" (profit) for them, not for you.

Natsu • Jul 29, 2020 • View on HN

It's almost like there are people making massive profit off of these things.

elthran • Jan 19, 2016 • View on HN

why would they do that, when they can just make extra profit?

tomcam • Apr 2, 2019 • View on HN

How does that make them profiteers?

Lu2025 • Jul 16, 2025 • View on HN

They don't optimize for our convenience, they optimize for their profit.

oth001 • Jan 22, 2019 • View on HN

I think it's all in their interest of making more money.