On Fri, 2003-11-14 at 18:54, Chris W. Parker wrote: > Robert Cummings <mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED]> > on Friday, November 14, 2003 1:34 PM said: > > > Be careful though, if your code incorporates other peoples code, for > > instance Smarty, or PEAR::DB then it may fall under their license. For > > instance if your code "depends" and I believe the key here is depends, > > on GPL code, then it falls under the GPL, even if you don't package > > GPL code with it. Feel free to correct me if I'm wrong. > > Ok so let's assume this is true (which it sounds like it is). So if you > wanted to make a profit (or break even, whatever the case may be) you > wouldn't necessarily be able to charge for the software itself but you > *could* charge for support and stuff like that right? I guess that's > like what RedHat and other vendors do? > > So let's say, the code if free to download, but you could offer (1) > packaged versions with documentation, (2) a support contract, (3) a > setup fee (if the customer doesn't feel they are technically capable of > installing the software), (4) and whatever else you can come up with. > > Sound about right?
Definitely the support contract portion works, and as you said is how many open source companies are making their money. Also setup costs and configuration all fall under service for which you can usually charge. The packaging with documentation may run into issues since many licenses have specific clauses with respect to charging for packaged versions, often only allowing one to regain the costs of packaging itself. Cheers, Rob. -- .------------------------------------------------------------. | InterJinn Application Framework - http://www.interjinn.com | :------------------------------------------------------------: | An application and templating framework for PHP. Boasting | | a powerful, scalable system for accessing system services | | such as forms, properties, sessions, and caches. InterJinn | | also provides an extremely flexible architecture for | | creating re-usable components quickly and easily. | `------------------------------------------------------------' -- PHP General Mailing List (http://www.php.net/) To unsubscribe, visit: http://www.php.net/unsub.php
