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diff --git a/old-essays/fs-and-money-outline.txt b/old-essays/fs-and-money-outline.txt new file mode 100644 index 0000000..06d50ef --- /dev/null +++ b/old-essays/fs-and-money-outline.txt @@ -0,0 +1,67 @@ +two principle ways in which people make money with free software +development + modern economic models around fs development closely resemble early models + keep in mind that software freedom is as old as software + "proprietarization" of software began in the 1970s + apparently pioneered by IBM + furthered by companies like "Micro-Soft" + and Bill Gates who in 1976 published his Open Letter to Hobbyists + software was usually, if not always, distributed with source code + usually either at no cost or at the cost of making and shipping copies + programmers were paid for the time they spent working on software + not for the software itself + we see the same thing today + programmers are paid to work on software + the software is distributed freely (w/o restrictions) often even gratis + example: Linux + powerful and stable high-performance kernel + found in everything from TVs and phones to supercomputers + as of 2010, >70% of work done on Linux is done by paid programmers + at least 659 companies have supported development of Linux + compare that to development of MS Windows, supported by one company + AMD's recent hirings + show that if you can improve a company's sw, they might hire you + example: Qt + flexible cross-platform application framework + popular in desktop & embedded applications + most developers are employed by Nokia + example: GNAT + Ada compiler, now part of GNU Compiler Collection + developed by New York University under $3M contract from USAF in 1992 + (C) assigned to FSF and sw released under GPL + why do companies pay for the development of sw that few people pay for? + they have a financial interest in high-quality software + many companies offer paid support for the software -- more later + many sell hardware on which the software is run + servers, wireless network adapters, cameras, TVs, phones, cars + many see fs as a way to save money and avoid reinventing the wheel + e.g. AMD and Coreboot (or so I suspect) + AMD no longer has to pay for the custom development of BIOSes + they use an existing fs solution, adapt it to work with their hw + also, most software is custom software, which is technically free + companies/people pay programmers to write software + this software isn't released publicly + but if there's 1 user, and that user has the rights, the sw is free + free in a trivial sense +support + with proprietary sw, only the copyright holder is allowed to understand sw + only they can support it + the support is a monopoly + with fs, everyone is allowed to understand it and support it + support is a free market + individuals make money making changes to fs programs + either supporting their own programs of any other fs programs + again, paid to work, not paid for the work + individuals & companies sell consulting services & support contracts for fs + Cygnus, Red Hat (announced income last year of almost $1B), Canonical + Nokia/Digia and Qt Partners + AdaCore + as Mark pointed out, also Sencha + Debian has a list of 824 consultants in 63 countries + FSF lists 86 individuals and companies offering services in fs +additionally, some people sell free software + they can charge a fee for distribution, even of someone else's work + it may go against the traditional fs development economic model + but it's not inherently unethical or even illegal + in the 1980s, RMS himself sold copies of GNU Emacs + made about $1300/mo
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