Tito Mari Francis Escaño <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> writes: > More than the question of "business model" in free, open source > software, it's a question whether you're committed to the community > that nourished you or think more of profit at the first instance of > opportunity.
One of the books I'm reading at the moment is "Built to Last", an extensively-researched study into the successful habits of highly visionary companies. In the book, James Collins and Jerry Porras wrote that one of the key characteristics of visionary companies is that they do not succumb to the tyranny of the OR, but rather have the genius of the AND. It's not principles OR profit, but rather principles AND profit. Great businesses thrive because they are committed to purpose beyond profit, yet embrace profit as a way of pursuing that purpose. Businesses building upon open source can do the same. If we create value for other people, we can charge for it so that we can make even more value. Another book I'm reading is "Love is the Killer App". In that book, Tim Sanders points out that it's now about knowledge, network and compassion. Free software works on that level, too. The more we experiment with free software and work on projects, the more our knowledge grows. The more we use that knowledge to participate in projects and contribute value to others (even for free), the more our network grows. The more our network grows, the more we can compassionately reach out and help others, even for free. Just some tidbits from my current reading list. =) -- Sacha Chua <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> - open source geekette http://sacha.free.net.ph/ - PGP Key ID: 0xE7FDF77C interests: emacs, gnu/linux, personal information management, CS ed sachac on irc.freenode.net#emacs . YM: sachachua83 _________________________________________________ Philippine Linux Users' Group (PLUG) Mailing List [email protected] (#PLUG @ irc.free.net.ph) Read the Guidelines: http://linux.org.ph/lists Searchable Archives: http://archives.free.net.ph
