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Project: Linux  Articles
The rich Robin Hood
By Amit Chattopadhyay <amitc@technologist.com>
Posted: ( 2000-10-18 08:10:56 EST by )
Open source is slated as the new mode of economy for the new age. But is it
possible to make profits from free software? What is the advantage to large
and small scale developers?
What is open source and how did it originate? Open source is software which is freely redistributable and can readily be
evolved and modified to fit changing needs. The Free Software Foundation
founded by Richard M. Stallman supported a great deal of open source
development from the early 1980s. They successfully released Emacs and GCC
(Gnu C Compiler) which form the core for all unix programmers. Excluding the
actual presence of the source code, the software license is the most
important part of open source software. There are many such licenses
available and in use. Although open source does not recommend any specific
license, FSF's GPL (Gnu Public License) is the most popular and widely used.
Many people find that GPL has a slant towards non profit and has an anti
commercial nature. GPL is not the end to all means. Many programmers in the open source economy
have opted for creating their own software license which essentially follow
the GPL but have some ideological independence. What's in it for me? Open source software is of advantage to both the end user and developer
community. Let us first examine the very obvious advantages to the end user
community. End Users * The "free" factor of software.
* Availability of source code for modification.
* More technically sound software.
* Better response to customer suggestions. Developers * Good karma for distributing free software with source code.
* An entire online world willing to update and make your software better.
* No advertising and maintenance costs!
* Fun factor. I'm a developer and I still don't find the above reasons compelling enough
to make me develop open source software! Unless you are college/school hacker,
the robin hood factor is little reason for most ordinary developers to shift
to open source. Thankfully, open source is a much more mature idea. Most developers like to guard source code because they fear that competitors
might use it to gain an unfair advantage. This is a serious fact which cannot
be ignored in any field of innovation. Linux is a good example of an high
quality implementation of a UNIX system. There have always been many wannabe
OSs that have aimed to do the same but even with Linux's open source, it is
only the popularity of Linux that exists. The positive aspect in open source
for such people is the wider acceptance of quality software. For independent programmers it provides an excellent medium to release good
ideas even if their programs are of average quality. The vast technical
expertise of the connected world will always support good ideas. Good
programmers can contribute to the development of large and complex technical
systems and programs, thereby increasing their experience, knowledge and
collaboration abilities which are important in any professional job. There is a also better interaction between the customer and developer, a better
knowledge of the market and of course popular support. An open source project
can be a good project for beginners who want to solve interesting problems of
the computing world. However, as any good programmer would tell you, the best, most useful and
popular programs are the ones you would write to solve the problems of everyday
computing life. Fetchmail is the best example of such a program which has
become highly popular in the Unix community. Sounds good, but can I make any money? Contrary to popular belief, there is a lot of potential to make money in the
open source economy. It is important to note that poorly designed and low
quality software will never generate profits (unless you force people to buy
it!). What are the possible methods of income? * Selling the software+source+manual in a boxed package as a commercial
product.
* Add on packages that make use of advanced technology (requiring resources
of the programmer). Sendmail is a very good example of a software that
utilizes this method.
* Paid customer support for software users.
* Cost added software/API manual.
* Paid customer requested custom software modification.
* Revenue from advertisements inside software. (many people get irritated!)
* Sponsorships from subject related companies. For eg. if you were to
develop a distributed molecular modeller, you could find sponsorship
money from NASA or other science foundations. What I have listed are only few of the many possible ways of generation income
from open source software. As you may have now realized, open source is not
only about being an ordinary "Robin Hood". It is certainly possible to become
a "Rich Robin Hood"!
Other articles by Amit Chattopadhyay
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