Steven J. Vaughan-Nichols is editor of eWEEK.com's Linux & Open Source Center and Ziff Davis Channel Zone.
http://www.eweek.com/article2/0,1895,1833612,00.asp
Going Broke with Free Software
...
I'm reporting what a major open-source developer told me recently.
"I have spent 20 years first studying how to, and then making a [major open-source project], and then rewriting it from scratch. I give [it] away for free, and the money is not so important really. My [19xx vehicle] is still a really nice car. But then I go for a divorce, and find that the courts treat me like [crap] because I don't have money."
"So, when I go to conferences, and people say odd things like "It is an honor to meet you," doing free software is great, but in the courts, if you don't have money, you are [crap]."
Funny you should think of Microsoft, because another major open-source developer, Daniel Robbins, Gentoo Linux's founder and its former chief architect, recently got a job there.
So why did Robbins join "The Evil Empire"? Well, it seems he needed a good job. Who doesn't?
Or, consider Lycoris, which was acquired a few weeks ago by Mandriva.
Lycoris is a well-thought-of desktop Linux distribution.
The company had also recently tried to bring Linux to the tablet PC market.
You might think that Lycoris had been doing well. Think again.
By the time Mandriva bought Lycoris, its founder, Joseph Cheek, confessed, "I am the sole remaining Lycoris employee."
Founder, CEO and chief CD-burner Warren Woodford tells me that even though he's made progress with resellers, getting local business support has proven to be almost impossible, so Mepis remains a one-person operation.
Even the very best of the best have had employment trouble. The Open Source Development Lab, the self-proclaimed "center of gravity for Linux," laid off a sixth of its employees, including some programmers, in May.
What's going on here? Is something wrong with free software?
No, there's nothing broken about free software. I remain certain that the open-source approach is the best way to build quality software.
But, open-source is a software development model, or if you prefer, an intellectual freedom approach. It is not a business model.
Yes, you can pay nothing for most open-source software, but if you want to see the next and better version of it, you'd better start paying something for it.
...
If people don't start supporting open-source software with more than just lip service… well, there will be a lot more leading open-source programmers heading to proprietary companies.
...
[Ovu poruku je menjao degojs dana 02.07.2005. u 06:49 GMT+1]