Ask HN: Do you want open source or free software?

https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=15775109

by ggurgone • 9 years ago

2 8 9 years ago

news.ycombinator.com

I wonder how many would pay for open source software.

Are there examples of successful open source software that is not free?

stewbrew2• 9 years ago

You're probably asking the wrong question. When you oppose "open source" to "free", the term "free" is usually not used in the sense of "free beer" but in the sense of the free software movement, since open source software isn't necessarily "free".

When it comes to monetization, you might want to ask, what exactly people are willing to pay for -- the right to install % use the software, to modify the software, to get support etc. -- for what type of software.

ggurgone3• 9 years ago

Exactly I think most of the times people want free software, as you said the open aspect is for the ones who want transparency, do security audits, modify etc.

I wonder though if open but not free (can contribute but not fork) is sustainable or even doable. Is there a standard license type for this kind of software?

stewbrew2• 9 years ago

Open but not free is what Microsoft and others do/did in some projects. That's one of the reasons why Stallman is so eager to draw the line between open and free software.

Example: Java's stdlib source code is open for you to read it but you're not free to modify it and redistribute it according to your likings.

(A few) People pay developers of free software to get support (e.g. some libs), for professional editions (e.g. some IDEs), or to support further development (e.g. some Android apps).

inp• 9 years ago

I think to RedHat, the Linux distribution. With the not-free version, the user can have a support from the RedHat team.

ggurgone3• 9 years ago

Yeah, unfortunately I don't particularly fancy this business model. Support and consulting can't be automate.

ggurgone3• 9 years ago

It is also trickier to scale it.

tobylane• 9 years ago

You're looking for something automatable that will generate you money while being based on a third party's open source code?

jrepinc• 9 years ago

I want open source and Free (as in freedom) software. And I value privacy, freedom and democracy so much it is not a problem to pay good money for such software. Luckily privacy, freedom and democracy respecting software is almost always also free as in beer, so I don't need to pay for it if I can't. But this doesn't stop me from donating to projects creating such software. In fact I have invested a lot more money in such free as in beer and freedom software than I have wasted on closed-source/proprietary/totalitarian.

Ask HN: Do you want open source or free software?

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