How can linux developers make money?

futurist · 03-24-2003, 10:03 PM

just wonder, if it is opensource, free for downloading, how can they make money? Who will pay the software designers?
For redhat and mandrake, do the companies make a lot of money from selling their installation Cds? OR from server support ?

nakkaya · 03-24-2003, 11:30 PM

me and u proboply meant notinh to them they make money from companies for support you will never buy redhat advanced server but if you are a company with mission critical software you need support failure means losing money

Daemonfly · 03-25-2003, 12:38 AM

I know RedHat makes money from their support/Selling CDs/Certifications. If you've ever checked some of the prices of what they offer, you'd see, especially the certs.

Shin Takeshita · 03-25-2003, 12:28 PM

I do not remember having to pay Isaac every time I used F=ma and its derivatives in my work. I do not remenber having to pay Albert every time I used E=mc^2 (which is derived from c=c'). I did pay modest sums (modest compared to what they really are worth) to the authors, publishers and teachers who made these ideas more accessible to the lesser minds like myself, so that we can also make our own small contributions and earn some good living. And we ALL are richer because of the opensource like exchange of ideas in sciences.

Do you remember who the wealthiest person was at the time Isaac was around? Do you know anyone who even cares?

tcaptain · 03-25-2003, 12:45 PM

The key to open source is realizing that money isn't in a product...but in service.

Think of the software as a business card rather than a product...something you can share/give away to bring in the real business.

You don't sell software, but you can charge for the media its on and the cost to get it to your client. You can charge for tech support, or even better, consulting.

You can even make money customizing your creations for specific needs.

The cash is out there as long as you're smart and have imagination.

Dave Skywatcher · 03-25-2003, 02:06 PM

For awhile, Richard Stallman made quite a bit of money from emacs, even though he gave away the source code for every feature he added. Companies would hire him to develop features for emacs that they wanted to make their work more productive. Even though he was actively developing it at the time, and may very possibly have added those features on his own eventually, they were willing to pay just to get them, as requested, within a given timeframe. Of course, not everyone could make a living this way, but it's one more possibility...