Well in many ways its a deceitfully clever way to extract slave labor of the disenfranchised.

Its an unpopular view but most of FOSS getting to the point of adoption that its at today was largely a reaction to monopolies, barriers of entry, and bad software alternatives whose cost was price gouging.

Build an OSS software suite as a company, solicit free labor, get bought out, take it private and reap the reward of money printing.

Knowing this cycle is a reality, as opposed to just someone saying it can theoretically happen, who would ever contribute when they aren't paid?

There are plenty of competent and skilled people today who are out of work, and can't feed themselves without government assistance.