I have always argued there are limitations to open source. My core argument tends to rest on what I tend to think of as reality – people need to make a living and quality work takes time. The anti-argument that always occurs to me is what I describe as a “hobby”. Clearly, some who make their livings doing one thing or made their livings doing one thing have hobbies involving accomplishments that are spectacular.
So, the question then is whether there are a reasonable number of hobbyists willing to contribute in areas that need to be addressed. Are there hobbyists willing to generate quality learning materials.
The Kahn Academy, pretty much the hobby of Salman Kahn, may represent the ultimate example. This resource provides a tremendous collection of video tutorials on academic subjects (mostly math) and not even ads to cover server costs.