free software

[PhantasmagoricalTech]

What do you guys think about free software? Should all software be free? If you consider yourself a "hacker", should you only make open source programs? Or is it okay to make a little cash here and there?
I think that open source software is really useful and much appreciated, but I do believe that you are entitled to do as you please with what you create, as it would not exist otherwise.

Tell what you think

[hanorotu]

The grey hat in me says that all software should be free and open sourced but at the same time, mans gotta make some cash.

So this is what I propose.

Have a patent like system: If the idea is original and never been done before, have a patent system of 3-5 years in which you can sell the version. If an overhaul is preformed meaning more than ~70% of the code is changed in one version then the previous becomes open source after a certain time frame. I dunno just a thought.

tl;dr : All software should be free and open sourced after a certain amount of time.

[F1.z3ro]

I tend to take the middle view...some of your products should be free, others should be sold.


Software patents are a bad idea - Always.   Patents have never been about the idea, but the implementation of the idea.   You already have a copywrite on the code - as long as I can figure out another way to do the same thing without stealing your code there should be no foul.

[namespace7]

Do what ever that you want to do. There is no right or wrong as far as software selling/open-sourcing is concerned because every programmer and individual is different and not everyone is in a same situation.

If you just want to code and make something awesome or learn something new, then just go and do it. That is the most important thing. If you can release your work as open source then thats great. If not, then it is not the end of the world. Someone else will make something like it and make it open source. This is a big world (even though it is becoming smaller).

So once again, everyone should choose on his own.
I personally like the Open Source movement and will support it when ever I have an opportunity, by either releasing my code under one of the open source licenses or by contributing to existing Open Source projects.

[iTpHo3NiX]

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[Lionofgod]

Make everyone pay for your software, just make sure it is fully available through torrents ; )

[iTpHo3NiX]

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[PhantasmagoricalTech]

Another point... Whether your application is free or not, I sure as hell am not going to pay for it xD and I can guarantee others will feel the same.

So true...

[Daemon]

Im a firm believer in software being free, the problem is the consumer's attitudes. We all want stuff for free (which software should be) and so people who develop it don't have time to devote to improving their software or putting out new stuff. When I develop programs to distribute, I would personally put them up for download then have a donate button the idea being that if you can afford too you donate some money to me so that I can devote more time to putting out software for the public to use. Even if your broke, just a dollar would help as they add up as more people download the program.

I also believe this attitude could be adopted for music, the artists would produce albums and put them up for download then ask people to donate if they enjoy the album/song so that the artist can afford to redirect all of their talents towards producing music. They should still make CD's though, and sell the CD's, because some people prefer having the CD with the album art and all the little goodies in there. Plus they know they are supporting the artist.

I feel as though a large reason why this is such a problem to implement is because:
A. Greedy people who just want money and don't particularly care about their field. They only picked it for the $$
B. People who love what they do want to do it full time, but they can't afford to at this point in time unless they sell it
C. Corporations-they want a slice of everything and if they can't make money off of it they'll pull some political weight to pass a law so that they can leech money from the visionaries
D. The general public's attitude, yes I am talking about all of you. How many of you would HONESTLY even consider donating to the artist/programmer if they gave software out for free?

As for point D, it's something I'm working on myself. I'm pretty broke constantly, anytime I can sock away more than a thousand dollars something always seems to come up like my car breaking down or my family needing money, and so I don't always think about hitting that donate button when someone does have one. However, I am aware of this and working on it. Even if it's just five dollars, it does help the developer and I am working on keeping that in mind anytime I see a donate button on a site where I download free software.

[PhantasmagoricalTech]

I would agree with you Daemon, but these people need a more sure way to make a living, in my opinion. If everything were free, they'd only rely on donations that may not be made. People would stop producing and transfer to more stable jobs.

[namespace7]

I wouldn't mind commercial software to fail. lets say photoshop goes bankrupt and is stopped being produced. Then all the artists and other ps users would need an alternative, and currently the only viable alternative is the open source package GIMP. And it is powerful and can do almost everything that PS can do, only it has a very different way of doing it and it would require users to re learn much of the techniques. However, artists would want better features and would start donating money which would encourage development. This way the the open source software would get better and better, forcing even more users to start using it. Eventually, commercial software would become history. It is unlikely, but it is possible. Just see how many commercial software is replaced by Open Source alternatives already. Apache, MySQL, Eclipse, GIMP, Blender, Linux (server and desktop distros), media players, etc etc.

[x86_64]

Ethically, I agree with the donation idea, but I also think that it will never work as those with the money to pay most likely wont as they will think "but they didn't have to pay". Open source applications are definitely replacing commercial applications. Companies still believe, though they use a lot of open source, that any applications other than development tools are to be purchased from commercial sources. If there is even a remote chance that it can affect their reputation and/or income. This is purely because of the lack of support available.


Companies need guarantee's, they NEED to have someone to blame when their systems fail. If we could market support to them appropriately then companies would be much happier to take on open source. All the examples above are used in educational facilities which will give companies the ability to put it on paper "our employee x123 has used this in an educational environment, we'll blame him".

[evilhacker]

If I were to make a useful program I'd probably make 2 versions. A trial, which has only half the features and put up popups whenever the user wants to use the rest. And a paid one ofcourse, but people will just figure a way to crack it and upload it to torrents so it's really not worth the time.

[x86_64]

Or maybe release a free version, then add features based on feedback to suit the end-user better. In the newer, more fully featured, version charge a little, and when you release a new one rinse and repeat. So there is always an  older version for free for those who need it, but the new shiny added feature one for those who want it and can afford it?

[techb]

I think it depends on what it is. Take video games for example, they are nothing but software, yet people pay for them as do I.