OSDev.org

It's money that always gives paid software a much better name than they deserve. The more money, the better the name. Open source doesn't have money to spend on marketing, let alone a figure with 9 or 10 digits, so let them have this kind of promotion.

Thats rubbish, sympathy Marketing is still marketing. I often use Firefox when working and i still wouldn't agree that they deserve special treatment.

So, under your reasoning, 501c3's (ie. the status given to non-profit organizations in the US.) should pay taxes? Churches, foundations, etc. should have to pay the same as the multi million dollar cooperations?

Isn't that basically what free software is? The 501c3 of the software world? In fact, many large free software foundations are 501c3's. (Python, Wikipedia, etc.)

So, yes, they do deserve special treatment, because they are free.

You will have to give a example of a situation where free software was given a better name than it deserved for me to understand what you mean. I am not arguing, but just figuring that you know of a certain instance where this has happened before.


Do you mean that you think most free software is already getting enough promotion so as to have sympathy for it is rubbish. You would have to elaborate more on this with a specific instance.


I would like to hear more about this. It might change the way I view Firefox and the other software suits under Mozilla.

No...

I really don't feel i should have to expand and that you should probably bow your head in shame.

Why not?

Wow, Tyler... Interesting argument you're trying to make.. care to show some reasoning?

Nope... i was going to, but then i remembered i wrote in my original post that my entire argument was lost and i really couldn't be bothered expanding. Hence i am quite taken aback by the responses that seem to have completely ignored the fact i went off the rails.

Though i do think it is obvious that free software is nothing like a charity/religion/public service.

How is it not? Does not FOSS offer a free service to the community for no charge? Isn't it run by a group of volunteers?

How isn't it like a public service?

Because they made something like 60 million dollars last year. Mostly from the search bar at the top of firefox.

But that's exactly the same as any usual public service.

Take a church, for example. A medium sized church may have 5 employees. A pastor, secretary, organist\musician, and 2 cleaning peoples. To pay the salaries of these people, the church collects an offering, and usually holds fund raising events run by volunteers. What's left over is then spent to improve the church. Also, to support the church, its members must bring more people to join the church. Without them the church will close.

It's exactly like FOSS. Some top heads of the foundation\project may get some portion of the money, and then the rest is then spent to improve the software. Moreover, the majority of the work is by the volunteers who improve the software. If they weren't there the project would fall.

Pretty close if you ask me...

Wow... who'd have thought my first topic would spark a discussion on FOSS marketing...

Especially since I didn't expect more response than

(Or simply "fixed" )

Obviously FOSS does not provide a service, it is simply a decision of the product development process. All free software provides the same service as paid software, and the developers wish for people to use their software in order to make money through other means. There really exists no difference except for the amount of money you pay just before downloading the product.

So anyone who codes something for a year or two and decides or open source it.. or open sources it from the start.. Is trying to make money.. by not charing a dime?

You fail to make a point....

It is not that they are trying to make money, but open sourcing it does not suddenly make them a charity. Software development is always a business whether you release the products free or not.

The whole point is, marketing is marketing whether the product is free to purchase or not, and special treatment does not exist because no one would try and claim free software is in someway more deserving of preferential treatment; it isn't. If the are doing do badly that they need special treatment perhaps they should begin selling the product?