How Do Open-Source Developers Get Paid for Their Hard Work?
InfoWorld asked the question about open source economics in 2009, and, as with the broken Internet issue, it has not been answered. And so the site continues to ask:
How do we evolve open-source business models to ensure vendors get paid without resorting to the same lock-in tactics that the proprietary world has used?
It’s a difficult issue. Open source software provides obvious benefits to those who use it, but what does it offer the independent developer or other member of an open source community?
The answer to these questions is staring us right in face, but most of those in the open-source community never think about it.
It's both familiar and obvious, when you think about it. The solution to problems involving open source revenue sources comes from something that's almost too familiar.
In fact, that familiarity is the main challenge to the question of how open-source developers could get paid without resorting to proprietary business models.
The Solution
Bear with me as I bring you to the solution.
The solution is Familiar but unexpected.
Let me invite you, the open source professional, to take a close look at it, think about it, and decide for yourself.
We expect that you’ll find it unexpected and unconventional. However, you perceive it, we will show that it works for everyone. Both the open source developers and those who use the software.
I have to ask you to step back with me and see things in a new context, so that the solution makes sense.
So let's step back
As software professionals, what are we building?
Generally, we're building either routing and switching and traffic management facilities, or we're building facilities that will be used by specific groups of people for their specific purposes inside bounded spaces.
If you think about it, isn’t the value offered by much of today’s software similar to the value offered by an office building or any other Indoor space? Isn’t the software we build sets of bounded and designated spaces in which people can confidently work on and share files? Aren’t they spaces where users don’t have to constantly worry about security and privacy?
We built the internet – The highway of information
So, what do we build next now that we have the highway?
We are supposed to build that which highways bring us to. The buildings! The Indoor spaces!
If the software you are developing is part of the outdoor public transport facility, the highway system known as the Internet, then your work is guided and governed by a set of principles other than what we'll discuss here. Thanks for providing the rest of us with a really great outdoor public transport system.
If on the other hand you're developing that which highways bring people to, that is, buildings, then we have a revenue model for you.
How do real estate professionals get paid for their services?
Real estate professionals never resort to the same lock-in tactics that the proprietary software world has used. The proprietary software payment method is based on Fear, Uncertainty, Doubt, and Inauthenticity. We call it the FUDILI-style lock-in tactic.
On the other hand, Real estate professionals use a different lock-in approach. The Occupancy Permit!
Architects, engineers, and construction professionals get paid for signing the occupancy permit. If they are not confident about the integrity of the building, they won’t sign the permit. If they do, they are putting their reputation and career in jeopardy.
Real estate professionals bank on the openness and authenticity of the occupancy permit to be fairly compensated for their expertise. The owner of a new building must ensure that the structure passes a set of inspections before it can be granted an occupancy permit, and the architect and contractors must also sign off on it.
You are a designer and builder of online real estate. Don’t you think the same compensation model would work for you? The paper containing the designs built by the architects and engineers if free for all, just like your open-source code.
But is someone wants to use the buildings built from the designs, they have to pay the maker of the design and the contractor who builds the buildings. That’s the law.
Is it possible to build the open source business model using the principles of physical real estate?
That would mean if someone wants to use software built from your open-source code, they have to pay you.
What value would they be paying for if the open-source code is available for all and sundry?
Ponder about the business model of physical real estate and how it could be used by the open source community for a while.
In the next post, we will explore what value those paying for the software would be getting.