There is a lot of confusion regarding the concept Free Open Source Software (FOSS) and how that relates to the need for the companies that support free software projects to survive in a largely commercial world.
Many application development companies and independent developers are unwilling to release their code as open source because they see the release of that code as losing control over a valuable commodity, which could have a monetary value. They still like to stick to the proprietory model. But it is a hard fact that Open Source Solutions are going to stay now after initial hiccups and there are many companies solely working with FOSS. So, surely a commercially viable model ought to be devised which makes more such companies work.
Today there are lots of products that provide free software, but do so while also having a valid commercial model. This enables them to charge for pre-packaged versions of the software, support and other chargeable components while still actually supporting the software on a free (i.e. open source) software model.
Two professors have now looked in more detail and come up with a suggested model that actually more or less models companies that are already using the model. There are other related links worth going through:
Innovation Through Optimal Licensing in Free Markets and Free Software
GPL
Regards
ravi
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Thanks for the blog and the links...I think the business models to make FOSS more sustainable will be the focus of many a corporate in the coming months and years...in fact, we have been collecting resources on this topic for our pages on Linux Research & Future & FLOSS Resources @ eit.in...while we have found a number of ideas and models being suggested, I think there is yet to emerge that ONE model which is really attractive...but as you said, open source is here to stay, and it's left to us to figure how best to make commercial sense out of it...
Some thoughts from The IT, Software Database @ eIT.in
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