Open Source Business Models

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Services and Support

• the product itself is open source
  • can even be given away for free
• the company sells services and support
  • e.g., training, technical support, etc.

Dual Licensing

• company can create two versions of the product:
  • one version is open source
  • another adds features that are not available in the open source version
• free version draws users in

Multiple Products

• open source product may be just one offering from the company
  • “loss leader”
• revenue is generated from the other product lines

Open Source Drivers

• hardware vendors may release drivers as open source to promote their hardware products

Bounties

• Bounties are a crowdfunding method
• users can drive open source creation by offering to pay for new software or new features in existing software
  • e.g.
    • FOSS factory
    • Bountysource
• programmer who completes the project first is allowed to collect the project’s accumulated funds

Donations

• donations help fund many open source projects