Show Me the Money

Show Me the Money

Article from Issue 198/2017
Author(s):

How do you charge for something that is free? Just ask!

As the founder of a modestly successful crowdfunded venture, I applaud the team behind AppCenter, the pay-what-you-want app store for ElementaryOS that, at the time of this writing, has raised $9,570, comfortably meeting its funding target of $8,000.

The market system of incentives is fundamentally changed by Free Software, as the consumer doesn't pay, regardless of how much he or she values the work of the developers. If Canonical, for example, were to start charging for Ubuntu, any number of substitute distros could be installed free of charge in its place. It doesn't matter that Ubuntu is key to the financial success of such Internet behemoths as Amazon Web Services; the marginal cost of a replacement is £0, so the relationship between price and worth is broken.

Canonical can fight back by using Ubuntu to create a market for a new product: its support services. But Canonical can only do this because it's big enough to do so. Small distro developers can't alter the market, so if they want money, they need to ask for it.

[...]

Use Express-Checkout link below to read the full article (PDF).

Buy this article as PDF

Express-Checkout as PDF
Price $2.95
(incl. VAT)

Buy Linux Magazine

SINGLE ISSUES
 
SUBSCRIPTIONS
 
TABLET & SMARTPHONE APPS
Get it on Google Play

US / Canada

Get it on Google Play

UK / Australia

Related content

comments powered by Disqus
Subscribe to our Linux Newsletters
Find Linux and Open Source Jobs
Subscribe to our ADMIN Newsletters

Support Our Work

Linux Magazine content is made possible with support from readers like you. Please consider contributing when you’ve found an article to be beneficial.

Learn More

News