I can report I'm earning a living (in San Francisco, no less) by working on an open source project, RailsApps [1], which is starter applications and a tool (Rai

I can report I'm earning a living (in San Francisco, no less) by working on an open source project, RailsApps [1], which is starter applications and a tool (Rails Composer) that generates starter applications. The business model is different from Mike's. Developers support the project by purchasing a monthly subscription at $19/mo. As an incentive to support the project, I write in-depth tutorials about Rails, which only the subscribers get. Some people subscribe because they want to keep the project going, and others subscribe just to get the tutorials. Either way, it's over 500 subscribers right now. I'm not sure how many other open source projects could use this business model (maybe you need to be a writer as well as a developer) but it's a route to consider if you want to make a living doing open source. And I'd say we definitely need more ways to sustain open source projects. Babies, burnout, and budget cuts are lurking assassins for almost any open source project. Most developers do diddly-squat to ensure their projects can survive and grow, even for key bits of infrastructure we use every day. Mike Perham's built a piece of infrastructure for us Rails developers, and he's built a business to sustain it. I wish more developers would take on that responsibility. [1] RailsApps: http://railsapps.github.io/ http://railsapps.github.io/