Comments on: Who needs money? I’m going Open Source!

By: Alex

Alex — Mon, 23 Apr 2007 23:24:46 +0000

@Heri: I don’t think I have enough to show yet. I want to set this up as a company offering open source software, as opposed to just some guy in a garage (studio).

@Derek: I think you slightly influenced my decision ;)

And thanks to all the others who support my decision.

Time will tell how this will work out.

By: Derek Allard

Derek Allard — Sun, 22 Apr 2007 22:25:56 +0000

There are other benefits to open source. I built Bamboo as largely a “because I wanted it” application, then decided afterwards to release it GPL. The best thing about that decision has been the emails I get from people saying “hey, love Bamboo and just wanted to say thanks”. Those make my day.

More directly, releasing BambooInvoice and being active in an open source community got me hired by EllisLab sight-unseen, and has led to many other profitable contracts.

@Jackson: a cost of $0 does not mean you can’t earn money and/or build utility. There are loads of examples that prove this, think Mozilla.

By: Alex

Alex — Sat, 21 Apr 2007 13:34:21 +0000

I had a feeling this would be a controversial decision.

Jackson: If a developer decides to take my software, modify and improve it for his organization, and in-turn gets to keep his job for an extra year, or gets promoted to management for saving the company money, does that mean I prevented him from making any money?

There is no such thing as destroying a niche. If anything, i’ll be growing it. Look at what BSD did for Apple, or Linux for RedHat.

Sure I may seem like i’m getting the short end of the stick, but that’s my problem not yours or anyone else’s.

By: Jackson

Jackson — Sat, 21 Apr 2007 09:19:18 +0000

Maybe you don’t need money, but another developer may need money. By releasing your software as open source (and, for practical purposes, that means it will be free as in price=0), you are destroying a market niche. In the future, it will be much harder for another developer (who may need money, unlike you) to come up with a product and sell it.

Don’t expect sympathy for this.

By: heri

heri — Fri, 20 Apr 2007 11:46:23 +0000

Hi there,
SugarCRM and Red Hat are profitable companies with open source products. so that’s a proof that the open source model works. they sell support, expert services, consulting, and let the developers tweak, test and add new features.

if you have something to show and want to become a local star, it would be a good idea to show it at barcamp (saturday 28th at SAT).

ok i exagerate with the ’star’ thing, but i am sure you will find many developers and entrepreneurs who would be willing to help or partner with you.

cheers

By: Alex

Alex — Fri, 20 Apr 2007 01:53:13 +0000

Yes! I’m really excited about this!

Scott, to answer your question, I am going to create a new open source project AND contribute to an existing one. I’ve already discussed a bit with Derek about working on BambooInvoice. I especially like the fact that his app and mine are both based on Code Igniter’s framework.

Thanks for your comments guys!

By: Barry Hess

Barry Hess — Thu, 19 Apr 2007 17:54:49 +0000

Interesting decision – I like it! I think you’re right on with the “Karma” statement. These type of things contribute to uncovering interesting work.

I’m looking forward to seeing how the project evolves. Too bad you didn’t go Rails, then maybe I could help. *jab* :)

By: Scott Meade

Scott Meade — Thu, 19 Apr 2007 17:43:04 +0000

Alex – Right on! Like you, I believe that if you offer something open source that people find interesting, valuable, and helpful; and if you find it interesting and rewarding then the reward will follow. And you will not have to “sell”, in the traditional sense. In a sustainable open source model, your expertise as the “creator” and maintainer can become very valuable. Plus, it just feels good to give back.

Are you considering creation of a new open source project or a series of contributions to existing open source projects (or both?).