This model has been used before by a number of companies. One of which I work with in my profession is IPTel.org. IPTel creates an Open Source SIP stack, SER(used for VoIP signaling communication). They, and the community develop this stack against the GPL, and you the corporation can license from them the stack, removing said license, or you can simply purchase support from them. They have a very successful and profitable business model with some very large customers.
In fact, IPTel.org was recently acquired by a much larger telecom company Tekelec. This is not to say that this is the only working business model for an company which develops an open source product, however, it is the only one that I've seen. Service is key. Mike On 12/10/05, Yan King Yin <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote: > > Ben, et al: > > My last post was brief, some explanations are in place. > > I have been thinking of a business model for AGI where the project is open > source but the software product is commercial, and the profits will be used > to pay contributors. I think it's an arrangement that hasn't been tried > before, and it could be an improvement on the current FOSS (free and open > source software) model. > > The forums will be used for members to exchange information while building > AGI project(s). > > Ben has been thinking about publishing his Novamente books, so he may be > more receptive to the idea of open-sourcing his AGI. > > Also, another partner of mine, John Weng, is also considering open-sourcing > his AGI for further development. His team has built a fully functional > autonomous learning intelligent agent with a robotic body, arm, and eyes. > > I think my approach may be beneficial to beginning AGI groups that are > struggling to solve research-level problems (who are just about everybody), > by combining human resources to reach critical mass. > > There're also ethical questions concerning AI which I'll explain in more > detail on my web pages. But I don't see why an open-source project is > drastically different from a commercial one, in terms of social > consequences. > > I hope people will support this move. Comments are welcome... > yky > > ________________________________ > To unsubscribe, change your address, or temporarily deactivate your > subscription, please go to > http://v2.listbox.com/member/[EMAIL PROTECTED] > > ------- To unsubscribe, change your address, or temporarily deactivate your subscription, please go to http://v2.listbox.com/member/[EMAIL PROTECTED]
