Stephen Downes

Ben Werdmuller's argument here is that, in addition to supporting your ideals, your product needs to serve a core purpose (sometimes called a 'pain point'), and this is demonstrated via the product's sustainability model. This applies, he says, even if the product is government funded. "Sustainability isn't a thing you think about after you've designed a product. Your product's business model is an integral part of it: whether your solution is valuable or not to a user depends in large part on the business model you use to provide it." I've thought a lot about this over the years. In the main, he is right, but I think that in some key areas the business models don't align with the pain points - the pain is too localized, or felt only by people without means, or won't be felt until the future. Business models depend on people with wealth, and ultimately support the interests of people with wealth. Sustainability can't just be based on business models. What would work (in my view) to support open source software, for example, would be a society where people don't have to support themselves by being paid for work. Getting from here to there, of course, is no easy task. But we begin by understanding that we need not be locked into a system where 'business models' trump all else.