How to make money with open source software
Use free lunch to earn money (original)
Donald K. Rosenbergstromian Technologies1999 August
The software can be free, but this does not mean you can't earn money from the open source code. Consultant Donald Rosenberg will tell you how developers with open source techniques are selected between various commercial models and licenses. Developers who want to be a software vendor must determine how much control is to be applied to their software. It is a complete ownership protection or a fully open license ("GNU General Public License") or is controlled between the two, such as "Mozilla" Public license. Donald introduces you to your key license and explains their differences.
Free Open Source Software and Deload millions of open source programs are downloaded free of charge, drivers, scripts, and extensions are real. Open source is a growing market, and more and more people are making money through it. So, as a developer, how to do it?
The simplest and easy way is to continue your favorite things: write code. The demand for people with open source techniques is growing. You can use Linux, Sendmail, Apache, Perl, Scriptics, or Python's specialized knowledge to find a job than ever. You can be a formal employee or contract worker, from a job to another job.
However, you may read this article because you need more independence and want to engage in your own business. As an employee, you need a major thing: you are an expert in open source. However, as an independent developer, you do not only need to open source expertise, but also need to be your own boss, market staff, salesperson and business manager (do you determine two full-time jobs?). In short, you will not only a developer.
Business Type You can sell items such as Penguin Cups, T-shirts to open source communities and any person who wants them, but this business rarely uses your developer technology. At the same time, it is necessary to open source and business techniques will be:
System integration personnel or value-added transfers (VAR). The salesperson of the new business must be a fanatic advocacy: You must sell your business and open source. System integration staff sells and installs computer systems, including hardware and software. You can create a small business using remote managed and never rebooted Linux systems, or you can perform an Internet (web and email) operations in any size service. You are buying, resale, and adding your expertise, thinking that customer issues provide the best solution. In order to help developers enter this business, some Linux enthusiasts have established websites telling how to run Linux consulting business. Technical support or training (support). This business does not install a new system, but helps users continue to operate their open source systems. Unlike small system integrators, your support organization requires employers to respond to the phone (providing 24-hour service for important customers); training can be remote or on-site. You also need to plan the pricing and procedures for issuance of dispatch people on-site. Your business may be directly signed with the end user, or to the system integration personnel to support the integration personnel. Custom software development. Imagine yourself is a system integration personnel who have nothing to do with hardware sales. You customize the application or website to resolve the customer's problem. You may work directly to your customers or system integration personnel for end users. If John OUSTERHOUT is correct about scripting's increasingly important role in application development, Scriptics, Perl, and Python developers will have a lot of work. If you pay attention to the Stringent Open Source License, you can reuse products in other customers and establish solutions. If you are using a patented software, make sure your client agrees how much ownership has the product so that you can use it in future items. If not mentioned in the contract, who has the final product (for example, "this is the product produced for hiring" means that the customer has it) it), assumes that your developer has the ownership of the product, and can grant the customer in non-special license Use its permissions in the form of a certificate. The open source will be conducted in this market, and the developer can no longer capture their customers by closed or blur code with unmanned understanding. If you are following the open source process (ie, provide a clear source code), then in addition to good products, you also need to rely on good service and prices to keep your customers. Hardware supplier. The hardware is supplied with the operating system, of course, is also usually provided with additional software. System integration can't earn much money on hardware (they benefit by understanding customer needs, installing and making it), but please note that resale and manufacturers are doing very well through hardware with open source software. Cosmos Engineering begins with Linux hard drive, then transferred to computer sales; VA Linux and TurboLinux (originally pacific hitech) are doing well in sales systems. Dedicated hardware manufacturers, such as Cobalt Network and WHISTLE COMMUNICATIONS (now part of IBM), provide a complete Internet server installation, plug-and-play. You can use ready-made hardware and open source software to produce productable products. You can make money by adjusting all hardware, making it effectively work together. Your customers will have both end users and system integration (integration personnel will provide any customs needed to end users). End users can include any business, but mainly ISP. Software Publisher or Independent Software Supplier (ISV). You can make money on the distribution of open source software; the key is to provide new features on the basis of the original software.
The most common example is Red Hat Software, although it distributes Linux on the Internet (other people sell Red Hat Linux in $ 2 or 3 USD), but it still makes money in distribution box. However, the first brand does not mean that other people have no chance. Users have obvious different preferences, and smart issuers will provide services for these preferences. SUSE is very advanced globally; Caldera has used the cutting-edge personnel; TurboLinux has turned from hardware vendors to Linux issuers with the same name issued; Slackware and Mandrake have loyal supporters. Software publishers can issue other people's products or develop their own products. This has a lot of risks in your computer market. This has a higher profit, but the risk is also greater, and marketing and distribution is as difficult as developing problems. It's hard to do two well. If you are publishing Linux issues, at least your customers know what Linux is; if you are publishing applications, then the education burden is borne. Listening to user comments now, especially be careful: to ensure that your product is something you want. True love technology - as developers - appreciate science and technology achievements and originality. With this prejudice, you will be very blind. End users - they never consider whether the software itself is great, but pays attention to how they make their own lives and work more easier - not just because of a technology appreciation. They are unlikely to understand your product unless they can contact it its own needs. These people are your customers.
Using patented software, you can test the market by publishing your software as an executable file, time or function restrictions or free software, and then keeping with your users to understand their favorite level and whether to use it. Starting from a few customers, listen carefully to their reflection. Ask what kind of changes they like - you might be surprised to find that they want the software easier. If they want the software to simplify and say they want it, you can have a similar application (or even a recruiting app!). However, if they want to customize it, you may have to be an integrator, not an application vendor.
From these small-scale start, if you adhere to a specific market and rely on your own expertise in the market, you will be more successful. Because the market of aiming opportunity began to be small, it may be a specific neighbor, so you can want people to talk about your products and bring you more customers. Finally, if you really have a popular product, "Software" software companies that "large scale" may begin to integrate your feature into their large products. You are more secure in the right market.
With open source products, your software can be able to find anyone you can find. Although feedback from the development community will guide you what to do, but keep in mind that if it is not a tool, the developer is not the end user. As you are using a patented product, you must sell your product to users who want it, and you must pay attention to their recommendations for products. Appropriate strategies allow you to concentrate to get the best results.
How to get to the market quickly prepare and enter the market? Although open source developers want to achieve shorter development time and higher software quality, in fact, new companies that have more new companies that have the longest time and recognized markets. Because the developer / system administrator market may be the best part of the open source market, it is not difficult to understand that the sales product described here is tool instead of the end user application.
Scriptics Corp. establishes TCL / TK commercialization. The core products are kept free; Scriptics training, enhance specific markets and other customizations. Internal programmers and useful Web sites Help future development have always been the center of Scriptics.
Sendmail Inc. is commercialized by providing a famous Sendmail program, most consultation involves installing and configuring Sendmail for system administrators. SleepyCat Software starts with a smaller basis at a shorter time. Like the founder of Scriptics and Sendmail, the founder of Sleepycat found their software as an open source project (Berkeley DB) and then forms the company's commercialization. Under Open Source Licenses, their database can be used to agree to send products and any user or supplier of all source code for any modification. Sleepycat issued a special license to a supplier to make it a dedicated. This is an OEM license; that is, Sleepycat software has become part of the supplier product. As the copyright holder, Sleepycat can distribute its software under any license selected.
Digital Creations Publish an Open Source Zope Application Server. The software is free and there is no license fee on the derived Web site. These tools attract people to pay attention to the company's website development business and advertise for the technical power of the inventors. Users can take advantage of free software, but Digital bets some customers prefer to hire their creations, and they don't want to spend and use it.
License Type Open Source License makes open source software different from other software, and it is difficult to understand these licenses for both lines and parsives. Keep in mind that the license you choose will depend on the type of business that will run. Before we talk about specific licenses, please remember: Always copy the copyright statement in your software. If you really plan to make money, please register the copyright to increase your meeting in the future dispute.
As the copyright holder, you have gained a set of rights, you can pass any of the rights to (or not delivered) agreed to use your software. For example, the patented software license will pass very little rights to the customer. As a copyright holder, you can even use different licenses to different types of customers. For example, you can use the GPL to agree to keep the product and the changed customers you have made, and another license (BSD-type or X license) is used to leave the source code that makes it change. customer of. All three licenses described below are recognized by an open source founding agency to comply with the "Open Source Code".
GNU Routine Public License (GPL). If you want to make your software use the expertise of the programming community and make it distributed as widely as possible, you choose GNU GPL. If the developer does not think that their contribution will be occupied by someone, then they are likely to contribute, you will enjoy the pleasure of unrestricted release products. Development work will be concentrated on you (as long as you keep in touch with the developer community). It will not be made on the software itself, but through convenience and testing forms in patent enhancements (cannot be used in GPL'D code compile or link) and customization. These improvements can be given to the GPL'd code when the program is processed. BSD or X license. If the end user is intended to modify your product and sell its supplier in their market, then they may prefer to use this type of license, which allows modifications to remain dedicated. In this way, the supplier knows that they are their enhanced unique suppliers. However, suppliers have the motivation to give their improvements to your code: Once their dedicated improvements are imitated by their competitors, they will gradually support their changes. Once the change is disappeared, the supplier is easier to make it a public and continues other patent improvements to seek new competitive advantages. The X WINDOW System license for X11R6.4 on the Open Group site is the simplest BSD type license example. Mozilla public license. This license allows you to protect when you share your code with others. Your software (and any improvements to it) are divided into two parts: protected ("hidden") partial and contributed. If someone wants to modify and distribute the protected part, as long as they also distribute the source code of the modified part, they can do this. If they want to change the software but keep their modifications, they can distribute them without source code, and must only access protected code through its API. If they need to change the API of protected code, as long as they distribute source code to these changes, they can do this. This license sets a smart bridge between the fully open GPL world and the closed BSD / X license world. Using Open Source Software to get patented software, the opportunity to use your open source software, have the opportunity to make money with patented software. For example, Loki Entertainment Software notes the game from Linux users, but many popular games are not on Linux. They have obtained the transplantation and distribution permits for Civilization, Railroad Tycoon and other games; transplant, then awarded the unique points of these Linux games to the Macmillan publisher. Macmillan has extensively distributed Red Hat Linux, and it also enables the Loki game to succeed in this area. RESULTS: No matter where you can purchase the Linux version of Civilization. The LOKI is expanding its market by making Yellow Dog Linux participating in the work of porting games to PowerPC. All of this is done within a year.
The new market is expanding because the Linux market is expanding, so users will be more than Linux experts. This will provide opportunities for the above integration and support business. The value given by open source personnel to independence is likely to make the scale of most services become small.
Open source communities have worked for a long time and waited for Linux to be widely used, and developers will be able to develop a vendor without secret advantages. However, suppliers in this new world may find it very like our current world. There is no longer a considerable large-scale software company will make ISV to maintain the original location, but any supplier with mass products (ie, a widely used product) will face numerous competitors. Numerous competitors and useful free products will have help to lower the price and profit of the application. Suppliers who have extensive use of patented products have been high, they may find their products have been cloned! As a result, the supplier will find that they can in place - their current location earn more money. One of the biggest changes in the software world (if any) will be a migration to a web-based application. Linux is suitable for this environment because it has remote management capabilities. This predicted transition will not only involve different technologies, but also new economic models: application software will not be more like products. Competition between application vendors may happen along two different types: as a patented product available from a single supplier or its multiple online service dealers; or an open source as a community maintenance and improvement Products, but can be obtained from integrators or support organizations. These organizations will receive annual fees as returns to the application in their customer organizations.
You can't guarantee that you can make big money on open source software, but the opportunity to survive in this new world will grow. Please open your eyes and look for needs and meet it.
Reference
"Preparing for THE Intellectual-Property Offensive," (November 1998) Open Source Creating agency FreeBSD License, One BSD Type License Example X Window System License, another Excellent BSD Type License Mozilla Public License Certificate of registration
About the author Donald K. Rosenberg is the President of Stromian Technologies, an international consultant for the OEM software license issuance, OEM Software Licensing Guide, Open Source Software Licensing Page and http://www.stromian.com issuance of other online marketing resources people. Dr. Rosenberg has been 15 years of marketing experience, with companies in the United States and European companies to work with open source and more traditional software markets.
