Home Messages Index
[Date Prev][Date Next][Thread Prev][Thread Next]
Author IndexDate IndexThread Index

Re: [News] FLOSS Could Move to Fee-based Model

begin  oe_protect.scr 
Roy Schestowitz <newsgroups@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx> espoused:
> A new direction for open source
> 
> Software vendors consider switch to fee-based model
> 
> ,----[ Quote ]
>| Tenable officials said Nessus 3.0 would still be free to users, but
>| the company would begin selling technical support contracts and would
>| charge other firms that want to use the newest version of code in their
>| products or services.
>| 
>| [...]
>| 
>| The OpenBSD Project develops software for the OpenBSD operating system,
>| which runs in every federal agency and on every Linux- and Unix-based
>| computer worldwide. The group also develops OpenSSH, the most common
>| application for encrypting Internet traffic.
>| 
>| OpenBSD Project developers want about $100,000 a year so they can focus
>| on the software without worrying about money, said Theo de Raadt, the
>| group's leader. He estimates that the project has saved software companies
>| as much as $1 billion in development costs.
> `----
> 
>                         http://www.fcw.com/article95251-07-17-06-Print

It's rather sad, but it does sum up the problem.  The BSD licence is
really /not/ a way of making money, whereas the GPL protects the
developers, by ensuring that code cannot be stolen, and that changes are
returned.

I wonder why Microsoft haven't donated a huge bundle, after all, they've
used shedloads of BSD code (ip stacks, etc.), and their astroturfers
here are very frequently commenting on how much better the BSD licence
is compared with the GPL...  MS wouldn't miss, say, 50 millions, and it
would keep the BSD project afloat for a generation, at least.

-- 
| Mark Kent   --   mark at ellandroad dot demon dot co dot uk  |
Why would anyone want to be called "Later"?

[Date Prev][Date Next][Thread Prev][Thread Next]
Author IndexDate IndexThread Index