Post AQ8oOYCuaYpYfA2pFY by cassidyjames@mastodon.social
 (DIR) More posts by cassidyjames@mastodon.social
 (DIR) Post #AQ8oOWJZcoyGnF97M8 by cassidyjames@mastodon.social
       2022-11-05T02:18:57Z
       
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       Free/open source software is free, as in “freedom,” not necessarily as in “free beer.” Let’s take that analogy further:The _recipe_ for the beer is open and free, but the process of brewing, bottling, storing, distributing, marketing, and supporting that beer is not cost-less! So, some indie brewers might ask people to pay for the beer itself. Some might ask people to pay whatever they value that beer at—even $0 if they want!—and it helps support the indie brewers.
       
 (DIR) Post #AQ8oOWuRPkSgdaOYoy by s31bz@linuxrocks.online
       2022-11-30T20:59:42Z
       
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       @cassidyjames This is honestly a much easier-to-understand way to put it. I may save this thread for when describing it
       
 (DIR) Post #AQ8oOYCuaYpYfA2pFY by cassidyjames@mastodon.social
       2022-11-05T02:21:22Z
       
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       Even if someone else could use the recipe to make the same product, there is absolutely value in the actual creation of the end product, and the expertise involved in its creation. And you can be fairly sure that the person who wrote the recipe is the person who best knows how to make, bottle, and store the beer. So it is worth purchasing the beer from them!At the same time, if a new upstart came along, they have a rich world of beer recipes to start from, tweak on, and make their own.
       
 (DIR) Post #AQ8oOa0vs4R8GaSHr6 by cassidyjames@mastodon.social
       2022-11-05T02:25:37Z
       
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       Some might tell you that selling this beer—when anyone else could come in and make the very same beer from the same recipe—is foolish. And they might be right that it’s at least a little risky. They might tell you to instead sell “beer making consultation services.”And yeah, that might make you more money, but now you spend all day telling other people how to run their breweries instead of actually… making and selling beer, which is what you *want* to do!
       
 (DIR) Post #AQ8oObnBGAcnmW2KhM by cassidyjames@mastodon.social
       2022-11-05T02:27:00Z
       
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       Anyway, this thread was inspired by an old conversation on birdsite, but it is still relevant today. And I hope it becomes more relevant as we make it easier for the indie devs who are making free and open source software to get paid for that work.