Hi Scott to recap a very well known Opensource Database provider who generate revenue off customisations of a FOSS DB http://www.mysql.com unfortunately this particular opensource database because of <unforeseen factors> founders Scott McNealy and Bill Joy's have seen their revenues fallen dramatically in the last 2 years the end result was the parent which took on <a FOSS entity losing money> forced the parent entiry to look for rescuer (fortunately the most profitable database corporation on the planet saw their planet and threw a lifeline)
In a robust economy opensource works great..freebie core modules are being developed by engineers on their off-hours while customisations to code to paying clients keep the lights on and food on the table BUT in a down economy everybody wants free personally i would be able to justify if we're <re>training the graveyard shift at local GM plant that was just closed.. on the other hand we've seen new engineers that work for the world's leading tech companies (supposedly american company that was started by Thomas Watson in NY some 75 years ago) saying they were just hired (on the other side of the planet) and demand(not request) a free solution from one of the unemployed masses here? FOSS the most comprehensive definition of FOSS is available at http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Free_and_open_source_software as "Free and open source software, also F/OSS, FOSS, or FLOSS (free/libre/open source software) is software which is liberally licensed to grant the right of users to study, change, and improve its design through the availability of its source code. This approach has gained both momentum and acceptance as the potential benefits have been increasingly recognized by both individuals and corporate players" Individuals benefit because cost of entry to the market is 0..there is a steep learning curve but for those with lots of time and a computer you can learn how a FOSS project works in a year or 2 Corporate Players only benefit when there are customisations provided to paying clients. An example is if you have 2mill code..1mill in free core ..the remainder is your customisation money-maker..but how do you enforce getting paid for customisations or new features and functions when most of the people demanding free are outside your borders.. thats why I think a rock-solid SSL secure site for pre-paid training modules would work best..there is no need to worry about revenue because 1)it was a small amount of money to begin with 2)you have already collected the money meaning no opportunity for man-in-the-middle rerouting of funds http://www.blackboard.com/Commerce-Security/Transact-Resources/Whats-New/Release-3.aspx whats your take? Martin Gainty ______________________________________________ Verzicht und Vertraulichkeitanmerkung Diese Nachricht ist vertraulich. Sollten Sie nicht der vorgesehene Empfaenger sein, so bitten wir hoeflich um eine Mitteilung. Jede unbefugte Weiterleitung oder Fertigung einer Kopie ist unzulaessig. Diese Nachricht dient lediglich dem Austausch von Informationen und entfaltet keine rechtliche Bindungswirkung. Aufgrund der leichten Manipulierbarkeit von E-Mails koennen wir keine Haftung fuer den Inhalt uebernehmen. > Date: Sun, 7 Jun 2009 08:24:20 -0500 > Subject: Training > From: stanl...@gmail.com > To: user@struts.apache.org > > Hey Wes and all -- > > I have thinking about the Wes training thread and would like to get your > feedback. Do you guys think training can continue to cost what it has > historically? The reason I ask is that I too have considered dropping down > a gear and doing training for a living. However, I get the feeling that > techies now expect training to cost exactly what their software cost - > *nothing!* Open source training if you will. Are you getting this > impression? When I mentioned online training in my follow-up to your > thread, I had no idea folks were going to say "yeah, and it should also be > free!" I'm seeing the tide switch and curious to get your take. I have > considered training & support the avenue to picking up some coin relative to > FOSS, and now I wonder if this too is expected to be free. > > P.S. You give em an inch and they want a mile > > Scott _________________________________________________________________ Windows Live™: Keep your life in sync. http://windowslive.com/explore?ocid=TXT_TAGLM_WL_BR_life_in_synch_062009
