It's perfectly possible to monetize open source

contrapunctus.codeberg.page

4 points·contrapunctus··2 comments

Honestly, I agree with the XMPP author here. The model described in this post isn't congruent with how FOSS is developed. I think Wordpress very succinctly proved that holding your code for ransom is the fastest way to hemorrhage developer goodwill. You'll never be able to compete when the alternatives to your program reject your arbitrary limitations.

FOSS has ignored this model for good reason. The majority of people who grandstand for attention or money have a negative bus factor, the value of their "work" is rarely worth what they appraise it as.

Could you tell me more about what you mean by WordPress holding code for ransom? I tried searching but couldn't find much.

I'm not sure why you consider applying this model to be "grandstanding for attention or money", and (re: bus factor) I'm not sure why a team of developers couldn't work this way too.

As for cost...someone who wants to work - and continue working - for the community will obviously want to price their time in a manner satisfactory to the community. Could you give any examples of people charging exorbitant sums using this model?

PS: The "XMPP author" was not actually on XMPP. Also, that author was (as I mentioned) advocating for disallowing commercial use, which - forget about being "congruent" - goes against every definition of "open source" or freedom-respecting software...in contrast, I'm pretty sure the Free Software Definition doesn't say anything about your development or monetization model, as long as the four freedoms of users are respected.

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