Ben Finney wrote:
a...@pythoncraft.com (Aahz) writes:
Ben Finney <ben+pyt...@benfinney.id.au> wrote:
[It is impractical to] sell free software like selling loaves of
bread, but that's a much more limited case and a far cry from your
claim [that it's impractical to sell free software]. Selling free
software is quite practical and a good way to fund development of
software that otherwise wouldn't be written as free software.
From my POV, if you're not selling COTS, you're really selling support
and consulting services, because that's what keeps your competitors
from just picking up your software and reselling it for cheaper. BTDT.
This thread has revealed some staggering gulfs in concepts as held by
different people. For example, I don't think it's at all germane to the
definition of “sell FOO” that “your competitors can pick up the FOO and
resell it cheaper”. Whether they can or not, that doesn't change that
fact that one is selling FOO.
Moreover, I don't try to prevent my competitors from reselling the
software (so long as they don't misrepresent who holds copyright or
further restrict the terms). That's part and parcel of the freedoms in
the software. Indeed, I find that helps the customers trust me more and
tend to come back when they want something else new; and my customers
are free to show others the solutions I've already implemented.
Thus is an ongoing business relationship crafted, including return
customers and referrals for new work. It really is practical to sell
free software.
This doesn't make sense to me, but I'm willing to learn -- how do you do
this in practice? Are you really selling the software, or rather
selling things like setup, support, new code (or time to code), etc?
~Ethan~
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