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Except Wikipedia is a non-profit and the content produced is under a free license. The founder of Wikipedia and the few employees are the least wealthy people to run a top 10 website.

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I agree that the Wikipedia model is better, but Stack Exchange posts are also under a Creative Commons license.

Nobody contributes to Wikipedia or Stackoverflow because of license. Most contribute because humans like sharing information with other people. If Wikipedia's eyeballs are low, people wouldn't contribute.

Some people would still contribute. It’s an intrinsic drive. (But I agree with your point in general)

“If Wikipedia’s eyeballs are low, people wouldn’t contribute”

People were contributing well before it was a top 10 website. That’s how it got kickstarted in the first place.

But people knew that the content is easily accessible over internet and the usage would grow. If the content is only available in say one library in a random city, people wouldn't contribute for free.

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