On 11/05/2008, Andrew Oakley <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote: > Lucy wrote: > > How to make money from free software is an interesting and difficult > > topic > > > I really don't think that's true - for me, it's a straightforward and > simple topic that has provided over 12 years of stable employment. > > As a programmer or project manager, I've written or helped write plenty > of systems based on free software. For example, as development manager > for MessageLabs' anti-spam service for four years. This was a well-paid > job which used free software almost exclusively (notably, spamassassin). > We customised lots of free software to fit our employer's requirements, > and contributed any improvements back to the free project.
Thanks for your comments. It's always really interesting to hear other people's stories about making money from free software. Unfortunately, a lot of employers don't see it this way, actually a lot of programmers don't see it either. I live with two people who make a living writing proprietary software and sometimes it seems like we are fighting an uphill battle to convince people that free software is viable.. > > The way to make money from free software is to find an employer who > wants something custom, bespoke, written for them. You then take a free > software package as your starting point, write the customisations, get > paid, and release it. .. that's very true and a technique I will try to remember in future, as I can see it coming in handy for certain employers! -- ubuntu-uk@lists.ubuntu.com https://lists.ubuntu.com/mailman/listinfo/ubuntu-uk https://wiki.ubuntu.org/UKTeam/
