adriantc 0 Report post Posted January 3, 2010 Hello!I am a software developer and a student at the same time. I know the value of money so I decided a few years ago that most of the software I'll will be free (not only free, but open-source too). But I also would like to make some money for everyday expenses so I would like to know if anyone (specially developers like) have been able to make money out of free software. I'm not planning to make them shareware, but a few $ a month wouldn't be bad. I know it won't make me reach, but some kind of reward for my work would be nice.I already tried with donation, but it doesn't really have an effect... 4 months - no donation. I don't have any huge software - I have 3 programs (utilities), 2 of which I am still updating which have up to one hundred downloads a day (counting only those made from my server - not from third party mirrors). I know it's not much, but it's something.Anyway in my situation managed to solve this problem out?Thanks!PS: This is my first post after some period of inactivity on Xisto. It's good to finally be back!PS2: Happy new year everybody! Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
deadmad7 4 Report post Posted January 3, 2010 Hello!I am a software developer and a student at the same time. I know the value of money so I decided a few years ago that most of the software I'll will be free (not only free, but open-source too). But I also would like to make some money for everyday expenses so I would like to know if anyone (specially developers like) have been able to make money out of free software. I'm not planning to make them shareware, but a few $ a month wouldn't be bad. I know it won't make me reach, but some kind of reward for my work would be nice.I already tried with donation, but it doesn't really have an effect... 4 months - no donation. I don't have any huge software - I have 3 programs (utilities), 2 of which I am still updating which have up to one hundred downloads a day (counting only those made from my server - not from third party mirrors). I know it's not much, but it's something.Anyway in my situation managed to solve this problem out?Thanks!PS: This is my first post after some period of inactivity on Xisto. It's good to finally be back!PS2: Happy new year everybody! Making revenues from free & open source software is one of the most frequently asked questions these days. While there have been a few successful examples of companies (like MySQL, Red Hat etc) which are making money, Id surmise that these are still very early days for open source revenue & profit models. While open source as an operational paradigm certainly has been having exceptional success against proprietary and closed-software models in the recent past, in my opinion, a lot more thought need to be given and experimentations done before the emergence of viable revenue models for the free & open source models that can successfully compete with the current proprietary software revenue model. Some specifics of the business models are emerging fast, but it will take a few years for the market to test each of these out and hopefully, the fittest will survive. I think Open Source is a great idea for users who don't want to spend any money. And the money side has to be the prime motivator for most users (or else they'd simply go with existing systems, and pay for them). Interesting that the way to make money is in sorting out problems (support), rather than selling a application of value (closed source). i doubt that putting ads on your open-source site will do some help Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
mahesh2k 0 Report post Posted January 3, 2010 Well i personally find open source applications as alternative to costly applications. But finally, i must say developer get to pay his bills only if he writes commercial application. Open source may be succesful but not capable of managing economy. There are some good cases of people making money with open souorce and i have no problem with them. But i found that people once start to taste free things will give less respect to developers and people who are working to make it free. When there is money associated to something then people start to care for things. Open source doesn't have to be free but in many cases open source gives advantage to your competitors and that way it could hurt your long term business plan if you can't manage it strategically. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
truefusion 3 Report post Posted January 3, 2010 Licenses like the GPL allow you to sell your program or source code—if you sell the program, you have to provide the source code along with it (or at least inform the buyer where to freely obtain the source code). You don't see developers doing this probably because the GPL, in turn, allows the person who purchased the source code to give away the source code for free afterwards. I don't know what license you have for your code (or program), but if you use the GPL, it allows you to sell your program. Note, you can also charge for support—but it sounds like your programs aren't complex enough to confuse users. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
adriantc 0 Report post Posted January 3, 2010 (edited) Yes... all 3 are GPL (now v3) (with the exception that one has some libraries that I haven't made public)... they are not something I could offer support for. They are not something huge, but they enjoy some success and I would like to see that people appreciate my software and I get even 1$... It tells me it is a job well done and that my effort is appreciated!Here are my 3 open-source projects:https://sourceforge.net/projects/enigmacs/ (mature project, considered abandoned)https://sourceforge.net/projects/dont-panic/ (mature project... still releasing updates)https://sourceforge.net/projects/tcpipmanager/ (very new... barely released... many updates expected)I don't consider selling them (making them paid software) an option. I would rather get 0$ then making them paid. Edited January 3, 2010 by adriantc (see edit history) Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
