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You can put a price on GPL software. What you shouldn't do is to hope that anyone will pay you. The first person who pays can offer exactly the same thing for

You can put a price on GPL software. What you shouldn't do is to hope that anyone will pay you. The first person who pays can offer exactly the same thing for $0. It's impossible to convince anyone that they should pay you even $1 if exactly the same thing is available for $0 from somewhere else. The ability to charge for GPL software is purely theoretical. In practice, you can't.

krrrh 13y ago
Not true. Just see MySQL for one example. Before Oracle bought MySQL AB (for $1 billion) their revenues on commercial support for their largely GPLv2 software was in the tens of millions. The same may already be true for Monty Program AB who provide commercial support for MariaDB. The closer you get to infrastructure, the more being open source is a competitive advantage.
- pjmlp 13y ago
  This is not the case with most open source software. Actually the majority of corporations are leechers, using it as "free beer", only paying back if they really have to, as many corporations don't use software without support contracts. Or happen to have some FOSS followers taking business decisions. Otherwise, I can tell you from my experience working on Fortune 500 consulting projects, very seldom is any money or contribution given back.
- joesb 13y ago
  I thought MySQL AB has dual licensing model and that business can pay for commercial non-GPL MySQL.
icebraining 13y ago
It's impossible to convince anyone that they should pay you even $1 if exactly the same thing is available for $0 from somewhere else. Radiohead's In Rainbows, the Humble Bundles and other pay-what-you-want sales disprove that statement. All had average purchase prices well above the minimum. (That doesn't mean such a model is very profitable compared to fixed prices, of course.) Even in a purely self-interested point of view, there are reasons for paying (e.g. keeping development active).
- pjmlp 13y ago
  Those are one shot successes, hardly a model to follow for anyone that needs a steady source of income to pay things like mortgage, employees and such.
  - icebraining 13y ago
    Those are one shot successes Maybe so; can you point out those cases where the average payment for a pay-what-you-want sale was no higher than the absolute minimum? hardly a model to follow for anyone that needs a steady source of income to pay things like mortgage, employees and such. That's a very different claim from what I was contesting. But in any case, it may work in when you have modest needs; Joey Hess just got his second year of development of Git-Annex funded[1]. Of course, not everyone is willing to work for $15k/year, even if it comes with few strings attached, particularly obviously talented and experienced developers like him. [1] https://campaign.joeyh.name/ https://campaign.joeyh.name/
    - pjmlp 13y ago
      > Of course, not everyone is willing to work for $15k/year That is the main point, in Germany you can earn around 5x that on an average consulting job.
      - icebraining 13y ago
        You don't get the freedom he has, though, both in terms of working hours, location, etc.
    - deleted 13y ago
      [deleted]

krrrh 13y ago

Not true. Just see MySQL for one example. Before Oracle bought MySQL AB (for $1 billion) their revenues on commercial support for their largely GPLv2 software was in the tens of millions. The same may already be true for Monty Program AB who provide commercial support for MariaDB. The closer you get to infrastructure, the more being open source is a competitive advantage.

pjmlp 13y ago
This is not the case with most open source software. Actually the majority of corporations are leechers, using it as "free beer", only paying back if they really have to, as many corporations don't use software without support contracts. Or happen to have some FOSS followers taking business decisions. Otherwise, I can tell you from my experience working on Fortune 500 consulting projects, very seldom is any money or contribution given back.
joesb 13y ago
I thought MySQL AB has dual licensing model and that business can pay for commercial non-GPL MySQL.

icebraining 13y ago

It's impossible to convince anyone that they should pay you even $1 if exactly the same thing is available for $0 from somewhere else. Radiohead's In Rainbows, the Humble Bundles and other pay-what-you-want sales disprove that statement. All had average purchase prices well above the minimum. (That doesn't mean such a model is very profitable compared to fixed prices, of course.) Even in a purely self-interested point of view, there are reasons for paying (e.g. keeping development active).

pjmlp 13y ago
Those are one shot successes, hardly a model to follow for anyone that needs a steady source of income to pay things like mortgage, employees and such.
- icebraining 13y ago
  Those are one shot successes Maybe so; can you point out those cases where the average payment for a pay-what-you-want sale was no higher than the absolute minimum? hardly a model to follow for anyone that needs a steady source of income to pay things like mortgage, employees and such. That's a very different claim from what I was contesting. But in any case, it may work in when you have modest needs; Joey Hess just got his second year of development of Git-Annex funded[1]. Of course, not everyone is willing to work for $15k/year, even if it comes with few strings attached, particularly obviously talented and experienced developers like him. [1] https://campaign.joeyh.name/ https://campaign.joeyh.name/
  - pjmlp 13y ago
    > Of course, not everyone is willing to work for $15k/year That is the main point, in Germany you can earn around 5x that on an average consulting job.
    - icebraining 13y ago
      You don't get the freedom he has, though, both in terms of working hours, location, etc.
  - deleted 13y ago
    [deleted]