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How do developers make money from free or open source software? I'm talking about good applications or web-based software like CMSs - how do they make money if the item is free or open source... How do they stop people ripping them off or taking the project in the wrong direction? what license should I get to make the most out of something I hope to write?
Most open source software isn't there to make money. However some business models do exist around open source software. RedHat being one of the most common examples. They give the software away for free but charge for support. Suse used to (may still) charge for a premium edition of their linux distribution. OScommerce is free but a modified version of it called CRE Loaded is a commercial product.
Open source projects generally have a governing body of some kind or a small dictatorship that sets the goals of the project. Others are often free to branch out into their own versions if their ideas differ and they're willing to put the work into it.
What license you use really depends on your business model. GPL, lesser GPL, BSD license... read about them on google.
I'm not sure about how they keep others from ripping off the code and re-branding it and selling it under a different name. That's a dangerous move though. You start selling to a lot of people who are familiar with other similar products and eventually someone trying out the pirated software notices it behaves surprisingly like something else they've tried, they alert that site, that site checks into this other applications code, then who knows.. I imagine it would go to court or any number of possibilities.
Start a directory to list domains for sale. That's what people like SEDO do. You can get money just for allowing domains to be listed in your directory.
Important well known types of property or home include property or home (the combination of area and any improvements to or on the land),
By using this open source application , they will develop a e-commerce website using Magento framework. If it is developed and optimized well, then automatically your site will get more visitors.With this, you will also make money if the visitors like your product.
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Originally Posted by adriaya
I want to thank you for this informative information.
Ways to earn money through Open Source
-Sponsorship by a company
This can happen in several ways.
1. Permanent job to continue work on high-profile project. This is probably the rarest case. If you are a senior member of a major open source project, someone like Linus Torvalds, Guido van Rossum or Theo de Raadt, then you will probably be able to continue working on your project while being financially supported by a major company such as Google or IBM. Although this mode of support is relatively uncommon, you don't necessarily have to be an open source superstar to secure this type of funding; many Linux kernel developers are partially or wholly funded by companies like Red Hat.
2. Paid for specific features or extensions. Some companies offer bounties to have specific features implemented in open source software that they use for business functions. Often there is no need for the feature to remain closed source, so significant code is contributed back to the community. This has been described as the beekeeper model of open source development. In some cases the additional features are required to remain proprietary, but are based upon an open source codebase. In both cases, open source expertise is a clear advantage for a developer.
3. Your day job code can be open-sourced. A related case is where aspects of the code you write for a company in the course of your day-to-day job may be open-sourced without harm to the company. The code may or may not be based on an existing FOSS project. Generically useful tools and libraries may often be released in this way, and anecdotal evidence suggests such projects can often accelerate once they become volunteer-driven.
Totally agree with you Codybane. Most of the business models exist around the open source software's. Like Linux, Android, PHP, Wordpress, Symbain and many more.Quote:
Originally Posted by CodyBane