jim wrote:
>
> "Thufir" <hawat.thufir@xxxxxxxxx> wrote in message
> news:IOjki.99964$NV3.65787@xxxxxxxxxxxx
>> On Sun, 08 Jul 2007 14:47:48 +0100, Roy Schestowitz wrote:
>>
>>> | This is actually one of the weaknesses of an open-source business
>>> model. Once | you release the code, the customer is in control of when
>>> she buys.
>>
>>
>> Perhaps a better business model would be to have something in demand,
>> then sell it. I suppose there's a surplus of FOSS software, as it can be
>> downloaded easily. Anytime there's a surplus, you're not going to make
>> money...
>>
>> On the other hand, if you have skill x, and there's a shortage of persons
>> with skill x, then you'll make money hand of fist. You could probably
>> build a company around that...
>
> Although there are hundreds of thousands of FOSS projects, they are mostly
> abandoned. Just take a random walk thru sourceforge.net and you'll see
> what I mean.
>
A large majority of no longer supported projects were either passed on or
merged into another, or they was a genuine end of life to a project. They
are many items in use in day to day Linux that started as seperate
projects.
As an obvious example, Look at all of the areas concerned with a multimedia
suite, some of those areas are very specialist, but it is obvious too that
they will be a point where the areas have to merge, not necessarily a
complete merge, but certainly enough that they are all taking advantage of
each other's area of expertise.
The first thing you have to do if you are looking for a project to support
is have a good look through the release notes. It isn't necessarily the
last note that is relevant, you might have to go a few back to see a point
decided on at which the project is passed on or terminated. They is nearly
always an entry telling you who the project was passed to if it is
unfinished.
Of cause they are some abandoned projects, but they still have value,
because the source is still there. It can be a good place to find ideas on
implementing something, even if it is just a class within a project you are
doing for yourself.
Then they are projects which are started at the wrong time in the wrong
place.
I'm trying to think of an example off the top of my head so I hope I have
remembered this correctly, if not I only intended it as an example of
projects that sit there in sourceforge for seemingly ages before it
suddenly finding a home.
Gimp, they were a lot of little projects to do with graphics of various
kinds. Convertors, layer management and many others, some were command line
others had an GUI. Gimp was already out of cause but there was a change at
some point that made it much more possible for these other areas to come
into the project. Out of that you also got the scripting interface, so many
of the things you might have done on the commandline with external
utilities, you can now script inside Gimp. Scripting and third party
modules I believe make the already powerfull Gimp into an unbeatable high
power graphics program.
So one change and all of a sudden many other projects spring back into life.
We have seen that so many times with different areas. So don't look at
abandoned or static projects in sourceforge as anything negative, some have
moved on or died a natural death, others are waiting for the right time.
All of them have been, still are, or will be important.
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