Next thing we know, we'll be told running /. costs pretty much 0. It may look that way, but it ain't so.

Actually, most if not all fraud below around $25 is not even recovered by the card issuer. Not worth the trouble.

And then there are the fraud cases where customers defraud merchants. You can guess, being a breathing /. reader, that merchant's do not pay for that, except for the cost of defense.

Even otherwise knowlegable people do not well understand the payment industry. Discount fees may be too much, not enough, or just right, and various reward programs may or may not be worth the costs, but after you add in fraud, deposits, and the work to make sure it is all accurate, it's just not free.

Amex doesn't charge 4.9% for anything. That is BS.I'm betting their corporate purchasing programs don't even charge that.

Amex has reached parity in fees for some time now, not more than .25% different. You are making this up.
Now loyalty and rewards , yup, they do get paid somewhere. You be the judge if the cash-back, reward points, whatever, are worth it to you.

WSL2. It's close, and it works sort of. Mounting USB media isn't something Microsoft seems to want to do.

Ditto.

Inside joke there.

Certainly could do all this in PostgreSQL, which has quietly-ish been doing big jobs for decades. But truly, time to hire on a serious developer and make at least as much of an effort at managing operations as they do with their website(s). Management, and the mis-thereof.

This I've seen at my former employer, despite their denials. Posting fantastical, ludicrous jobs with unrealistic qualifications. Examples include; 'data scientist', 'full stack developer', a job that asks for PhD and 5 years experience. And does not specify a lack of visa sponsorship. Indeed, that employer rarely posts jobs at mid-level or even highly competent developer qualifications that specify no visa sponsorship. And while the salaries are competitive, these postings sure seem to be intended to fail to attract domestic candidates, giving the employer the path to pulling in H1B candidates. Who seem, sometimes, to migrate to offshore positions.

I'm pretty cynical about this, but H1B and similar visas are plainly being abused. And our Congress is unwilling to take any action. It's sad.

If you're paid $5, it's worth $5. To you. Yes, your employer will want to derive more value from your labor, of course, and your cost to them is more than your direct wages. This is all obvious, isn't it?

Just as, from time to time, you may find you require more compensation for your labor, and so seek opportunity to earn more. Or your employer may decide your labor isn't worth as much as you think it is, or even that it's no longer necessary to them. This sort of market exists in many places...

If you're paid$

Marx would be proud...

Hey, it's math. Finding another solution is called theoretical math. More winning?

Expecting to be paid $5 for $4 worth of work seems radical.

Oh, 'muh productivity'? If you can do 5 hours work in 4 hours, maybe you should do the 6 1/4 hrs worth of work in the 5 hours you were paid for? Winning?

Look, I get the attraction of being paid for 40 hours but only working 32 hours. Yes. Only, maybe, no. Maybe a 6 hour day, so I can be denied support for another 2 hours a day.

And, yet, they are hired. And, yet, candidates perceived as older are not favored. It doesn't matter why to the older candidates, trust me.

So it's just money.

Many/most/all of these papers are published by academicians. Their employers, these institutions, can't be bothered to preserve the work they benefit from and profit from?

This is the problem. The scientists and their institutions really do not value their own work. But in America these institutions are conquered by the Left, which only values itself.