Back to the topic: I think the Lazarus project could SELL products like this: http://shop.canonical.com/product_info.php?products_id=648
Ubuntu also has a service called "Ubuntu Advantage" which gives advantages to enterprises that choose to pay a fee, like a network admin tool, a 24/7 support phone line and access to an exclusive online knowledge base "written and audited by senior engineers". I do not know what kind of "advantages" the Lazarus/FPC team could offer, but it is a valid business model. http://www.canonical.com/enterprise-services/ubuntu-advantage 2010/12/2 Osvaldo Filho <[email protected]> > Is Firebird really free? > > If you’re expecting some sensation, I’ll not make you happy. Shortly, yes, > Firebird is free, completely. You can use it wherever you want and you don’t > have to pay anything nor release sources of your application nor … > > On the other hand, the whole truth, considering all the edge cases and > consequences, is different. To keep high quality of final product, keep > adding new features, provide bug fixes – simply moving forward – the creator > needs some resources. If these resources will not be available, it will be > effectively dead. The resources I’m here talking about, in case of Firebird, > are people doing full time or regular development. These people have > families, houses, hobbies, … And for all of these items you need money (in > our society [image: :)] ). They’re not doing it for fun (only), but also > for living as well. > > So Firebird actually needs some money to keep moving. It doesn’t have > licenses to buy or something like that. We’re simply relying on the fact, > that people using it, similar to people working on it, do love it. And are > educated enough to realize all this and provide, even small, support. Thus > next time you’ll be deploying your application with Firebird, think about > sending $10 or even $1. I bet it’s nothing for you (compared to price of the > application or money you’re paying for toilet paper in your office). And ten > thousand people (not much) donating $10 makes a huge difference. It’s not > only about few donating $10000. > > And by the way, Firebird is not “just” engine, but tools around too: .NET > driver [image: ;)] , Java driver, documentation, QA, …, you name it. > > > -- Atenciosamente, Alexsander da Rosa Linux User #113925 "Extremismo na defesa da liberdade não é defeito. Moderação na busca por justiça não é virtude." -- Barry Goldwater
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