From mboxrd@z Thu Jan 1 00:00:00 1970 X-Spam-Checker-Version: SpamAssassin 3.4.4 (2020-01-24) on polar.synack.me X-Spam-Level: X-Spam-Status: No, score=0.6 required=5.0 tests=AC_FROM_MANY_DOTS,BAYES_00, HK_RANDOM_FROM autolearn=no autolearn_force=no version=3.4.4 X-Google-Thread: 103376,afb4d45672b1e262 X-Google-Attributes: gid103376,public X-Google-Language: ENGLISH,ASCII-7-bit Path: g2news1.google.com!news1.google.com!news3.google.com!news.glorb.com!cycny01.gnilink.net!spamkiller.gnilink.net!gnilink.net!trnddc04.POSTED!20ae255c!not-for-mail Newsgroups: comp.lang.ada From: Justin Gombos Subject: Re: Making money on open source, if not by selling _support_, then how? References: <7NOdne-iYtWmIafZnZ2dnUVZ_tWdnZ2d@megapath.net> <292bf$443bb4e4$45491254$20549@KNOLOGY.NET> User-Agent: slrn/0.9.8.1 (Linux) Message-ID: Date: Tue, 11 Apr 2006 15:13:31 GMT NNTP-Posting-Host: 129.44.77.228 X-Complaints-To: abuse@verizon.net X-Trace: trnddc04 1144768411 129.44.77.228 (Tue, 11 Apr 2006 11:13:31 EDT) NNTP-Posting-Date: Tue, 11 Apr 2006 11:13:31 EDT Xref: g2news1.google.com comp.lang.ada:3773 Date: 2006-04-11T15:13:31+00:00 List-Id: On 2006-04-11, Marc A. Criley wrote: > >> So, it appears that open source (at least the traditional model) is >> incompatible with truly great software. > > Ehn, okay, maybe with the "traditional model", but that's a very > narrow support model. I believe Randy was talking specifically about *profitable* open source software. When developing open source for non-profit, you could not come closer to a model that promotes trully great software. First of all, there are no conflicts of interest. You don't need to sell support, or sell the next bug fix. You can work proudly on "your baby" without the profit driven incentives that force you to release something that's substandard. Introducing profit is what creates a disincentive to produce trully great software, regardless of whether it's open or closed source. Randy may not accept this, but the negative impact on quality is much more pronounced with closed source because the company producing the product is necessarily the same organization that sells the support. With open source, a support organization may have a disincentive to improve the quality of the product, but other users and organizations don't have the same disincentive. Open source decentralizes control over all these variables, which enables the tools to become trully great. Open source support organizations are then forced to offer a trully great service, because they cannot rely on software deficiencies the way closed source organizations do. -- PM instructions: do a C4esar Ciph3r on my address; retain punctuation.