Subj : Re: How much should I charge for fixed-price software contract?
To   : comp.programming,comp.lang.java.programmer,comp.lang.lisp
From : jonathon
Date : Fri Aug 12 2005 06:47 am


Phlip wrote:
> > It doesn't seem to be available here on FreeBSD Unix, unless there's
> > some other name it's called here, do you know the correct filename to
> > look for on Unix? Anyway, AFAIK I've never had access to any system
> > that supported Ruby, so I'm jealous of your situation of getting a
> > chance to try it.

Let me make sure I understand this... you are looking for Ruby on
FreeBSD?  If so, it's a fundamental part of the portupgrade system.
Ruby works great on FreeBSD.

> > The whole point of open source is that nobody is getting paid one dime
> > for all their work, and the work will be given to the world at large
> > absolutely for free, right?
>
> No. It's to get them hooked and then charge for the upgrades. Nobody said
> you couldn't start charging if someone starts using your code, then needs a
> new feature. Do you think the GNU license prevents you from charging for
> that?

Don't forget about the wonderful BSD license.  You can do whatever you
want with it, pretty much.  You can take it (it's not stealing to take
something given to you), modify it, and then either keep the changes to
yourself, contribute them back to the project, or use them for
competitive advantage for a time, and *then* contribute them.  That's
the one I like.  Keep in mind, if you keep the changes to yourself, it
becomes harder and harder to maintain the codebase and keep it in sync
with the original project.  So the incentive is to merge your
improvements before that happens.  The BSD model is great, IMHO.

.