ittechs310
Junior Member
- Jun 30, 2009
- 189
- 3
Is it ok to sell open source software if I provide technical support if needed? I am only selling it for $5 and I put it on a cd for the client.
Thanks!
Thanks!
Open Source Software
- Thread starter ittechs310
- Start date
voyevoda
Regular Member
- Mar 21, 2010
- 217
- 99
This is essentially what Canonical and Red Hat do. So, yes. Just be sure that you abide by all the various licence agreements used by the software you are distributing.
orangeblossoms
Regular Member
- Jun 16, 2009
- 228
- 253
Yeah of course. People are selling things like Open Office cd's on Ebay.
I forgot where I read about it, but there was someone who bought Open Office off Ebay because they didn't know where to download it.
speechless.
Code:
http://cgi.ebay.com/OPEN-OFFICE-2009-2007-XP-VISTA-MICROSOFT-WINDOWS-/120384241742?cmd=ViewItem&pt=LH_DefaultDomain_0&hash=item1c0775c04e#ht_5656wt_1137I forgot where I read about it, but there was someone who bought Open Office off Ebay because they didn't know where to download it.
speechless.ittechs310
Junior Member
- Jun 30, 2009
- 189
- 3
Can you give me an example of other companies that sell open source products?
Thanks!
Thanks!
From wikipedia. I keep cutting things out and still trip the forum moderation.
- Novell, Linspire, Mandriva (linux distros & support)
- Oracle (enterprise versions with support and additional features for OpenSolaris, OpenOffice, VirtualBox, & MySQL)
- Ingres (subscription for services & support and also sells a database "appliance")
- Active Agenda sells a "Private License" to anyone interested in keeping module extensions private.
- Digium sells the Asterix PBX server
1) The most important requirement for selling GPL v2 and GPL v3 software is to include the source code. It is not enough to put the source code and build tools on your website and link to it from your CD.
2) The cost you are allowed to charge is for "distribution costs". 5 dollars seems not be too much. The reason RedHat etc. charge a lot more is that they bundle proprietary software (e.g. special drivers) on the CD which is not subject to this limitation.
In open source the model that works and which is strongly encouraged by Richard Stallmann is that you actually charge for your services but not for the code.
Good luck.
2) The cost you are allowed to charge is for "distribution costs". 5 dollars seems not be too much. The reason RedHat etc. charge a lot more is that they bundle proprietary software (e.g. special drivers) on the CD which is not subject to this limitation.
In open source the model that works and which is strongly encouraged by Richard Stallmann is that you actually charge for your services but not for the code.
Good luck.
Selling the open source cd with technical support is a very good idea. I think adding some modules or videos for tutorial could be great options too.
Do you know where I could find the information about what kind of open source software that people like?
I'm starting to get a brain shock from this idea because I've never thought about this before. And I think I want to try this because I like to checkout new softwares and playing with them. Want to join me in this?
Do you know where I could find the information about what kind of open source software that people like?
I'm starting to get a brain shock from this idea
because I've never thought about this before. And I think I want to try this because I like to checkout new softwares and playing with them. Want to join me in this? 
timothywcrane
Supreme Member
- Apr 25, 2009
- 1,339
- 742
Whether the source code is available to developers has nothing to do with the cost of software. There is commercial software that you have access to the code WITHOUT distribution rights, and those with. But 99% of the time, other than higher end commercial products with source code avail to developers without distribution rights, there is usually someone "not charging" for the software, making it also Free as in beer, but free as in beer is NOT a licensing compliance issue for most licensing that is also Free as in freedom, such as the GNU versions.