The hungry and cold unemployed masses aren't going to continue giving away their intellectual labor on the Internet in the speculative hope that they might get some "back end" revenue. "Free" doesn’t fill anyone’s belly; it doesn't warm anyone up. - Andrew Keen
http://www.internetevolution.com/author.asp?section_id=556&doc_id=166342&
...this recession will be great for free and open source because of the shortage of cash. Last recession saw the mainstream legitimisation of open source operating systems (youngsters, take note: there was a time when it wasn't automatically okay for an IT department to use Linux) because it was clear and away the most cost-effective choice. The saying I use is, "come for the price, stay for the quality". Perhaps this recession will legitimise many of the applications (CRM, finance, etc.) higher up the stack. - Nat Torkinton
Source: http://radar.oreilly.com/2008/10/effect-of-the-depression-on-te.html
Since people contributing to open-source projects and online communities have not (unless paid to do so) been paid to do so, thinking that they’ll stop just because they have potentially more time on their hands doesn’t make much sense. Contributors to free stuff usually do it for reasons other than money. - Rich Sands
Source: http://rich-sands.com/wordpress/?p=10
Open is the new black - Marc Canter
Source: http://blog.broadbandmechanics.com/2008/11/open-is-the-new-black-continues-to-spread#respond
"CERN's decision to make the Web foundations and protocols available on a royalty free basis, and without additional impediments, was crucial to the Web's existence. Without this commitment, the enormous individual and corporate investment in Web technology simply would never have happened, and we wouldn't have the Web today." - Tim Berners-Lee
Source: http://tenyears-www.web.cern.ch/tenyears-www/Welcome.html