Can programmers survive by writing free software?

chandru.in · 05-19-2007, 08:20 AM

While free (as in freedom) software are great to use, can a programmer who has no other source of income survive by writing only free software?

Say I develop a software taking lots of pains. Then if I decide to release it under GPL there is a good chance that I would never be able to earn a buck from it. This is especially true of products which do not need commercial support like games, editors, etc.

If at all a person can earn by developing free software alone, how can it be done if commercial support is not an option?

b0uncer · 05-19-2007, 08:37 AM

The trick lies there. If everyone just produced cost-free software and did nothing else, surely they would die of starvation: no money to buy food. GPL licencing, for example, doesn't mean you need to make it cost-free. You can very well sell the product or some services (such as help) for it; you can have a company that pays for the programmers to create "free" code, and the company sold something aside their products (like user support, which is most visible I guess).

There is no such thing as "free".

SlowCoder · 05-19-2007, 08:43 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by chandru.in

how can it be done if commercial support is not an option?

In the example of Redhat:
- They provide Fedora Core free of charge to the community.
- They hope enough users will come to them for support, and they charge for that support.
- They package their software in a nice neat box, along with a nice "How To Linux" book, and charge buyers for the cost of the book and packaging.
- They sell the same book at Barnes and Noble, along with a free copy of Fedora.

So, if the software is free, and you can't provide support. What's left is the physical material: books, packaging and CDs.

Matir · 05-20-2007, 12:16 PM

Many free software developers make their money in one of two ways (or both). Some charge companies to make custom improvements/modifications to the software, and others charge for support and related product services.

Yes, GPL poses some changes to the traditional market, but that's the way life is: something new and better comes along, and people have to adapt.