I think the truth is in the middle: there are many examples of secret processes throughout history and craftsmen jealously guarding processes except through apprenticeship programs where payment was years of cheap labor.
Oh yeah, it's not a binary thing. That said, in the case of craftsmen and their apprentices, I think the relationship was much less cold and transactional than, say, my startup friends who got a bunch of interns as cheap labor. At times perhaps, but not generally.
