I think writing quality textbooks absolutely qualifies as real, genuine contribution that deserves to be compensated.

It definitely doesn’t deserve to require a new, updated version of a $150 textbook every year that does nothing but change the problem sets to fuck students out of being able to buy used copies, though.

Academic journals charging obscene fees at both ends to monopolize publicly funded research that should be automatically in the public domain no matter what? Fuck them more.