On 21 January 2013 20:10, Rob Weir <robw...@apache.org> wrote: > On Mon, Jan 21, 2013 at 1:52 PM, janI <j...@apache.org> wrote: > > On 21 January 2013 19:36, Rob Weir <robw...@apache.org> wrote: > > > >> I'm wondering if anyone would be offended or object with a blog post > >> along the lines of "How to make money with Apache OpenOffice"? > >> > >> I appreciate that Apache is a non-profit and that we do not pay for > >> developers, etc. But we are also commercially friendly, and our > >> permissive license and focus on consumable source releases supports > >> this. One view is that this is good for the community, to encourage > >> commercial interest in a product, since that leads to investment in > >> the code, and investment leads to a larger, more diverse community. > >> Yes, some will take and never give back. But for many commercial > >> ventures there are notable advantages to working with the community, > >> having credibility and commit privileges, etc. So it s a win-win, I > >> think. > >> > >> The proposed blog post would cover a few business models, emphasize > >> the opportunity brought on by the end of life of MS Office 2003, etc. > >> > >> If anyone is uncomfortable with this I can do it on my personal blog, > >> of course. But it is relevant to the AOO project, so I'd prefer to > >> put it here. > >> > > > > For me it would depend a lot on the wording. It is a fact that > > people/companies make money of our non-paid work, but to me it is another > > level to actively promote it. > > > > The right place to put it, is as you write the AOO blog and The business > > models should be presented in a way that (if for nothing else, then pure > > morally) part of the earnings should flow back to AOO, in order to keep > us > > going, > > > > Yes, that would be my intent. > > > I do not really see it as win-win, when a company makes money and has > > commit rights. I (as many others) have commit rights and do not earn > money, > > we do it for other reasons. > > > > Maybe this question deserves its own thread, but what would increase > your enjoyment/satisfaction with volunteer with AOO? > good question, it is easier to say what would demotivate, and that is when I put in a lot work to help end-users, and the community actively encourages others to make money on it.
See later "eco system". If seeing the project advance faster, seeing more stuff getting done, > fewer things left undone, then this is made easier with more > investment into the ecosystem. And that becomes a virtuous cycle, > since that success attracts more volunteers, which leads to further > success. > Well that depends, I am sure that e.g. IBM (just an example) could throw in a lot of man power, and we could move high speed, but the price would be to de facto work to IBM rules, and that is a situation we should avoid. I believe that one of the reasons for AOO success is difference between the people involved, which enforces discussions and compromisses...something you easily loose when money is involved. To me is essential that the eco system is primarely kept intact by "real" volunteers...and that paid volunteers (sorry could not find a better expression), which have more time and resources are not taking over. Just to be completely clear, this statement is meant as a general rule, and in not to point at you or all other paid people in AOO, who all do a great job. > > > This is of course just my opinion which in one sentence is > > "good initative, but feeling comfortable depends a lot on content of the > > business models" > > > > Well, I haven't written in yet, but I was thinking of a listing or > catalog of ways of making money from OpenOffice. Maybe 10 or so. So > not "get rich quick" stuff, and generally a pitch for involvement by > for-profit organizations. > I like your idea, and a catalogue of ideas is good...but think about giving it the twist of a danish expression "when it rains on the priest, it drips on the vicar". > > -Rob > > > Jan I. > > > > > >> > >> No rush to decide. I won't get to this for another week, at least. > >> > >> -Rob > >> >
