| I've spent a career in open source businesses and helped some closed source businesses go open. The statement that there is no OSS business model is completely untrue. Let me give you a few models that work: * Run a hosted service (ex: Algolia, Wordpress.com) * Sell enterprise subscriptions which include packaging and support (ex: Red Hat) * Sell professional services (ex: Hortonworks prior to Cloudera sale) * Be a boutique consultancy (too many to name) * Sell OSS relevant products - security or management (ex: Fossa, Snyk) * Have an open core model where foundation is open but management/integrations are closed. These companies will also move the closed stuff over to the open side as the market dictates which will cause them to continually innovate (ex: Cloudera) * Dual licensing based on usage. Consumers get one license, business gets another.(ex: mySql) * Open source package subscriptions for developers (ex: Tidelift). This is a very cool managed open source model which is pretty encouraging. OSS is the amazing way to do guerilla marketing that results in an emotional connection with your user. That alone is monetizable. I can keep on going and going. There is definitely a way to make money. There is definitely a way to build a scalable business. Just because something is hard doesn't make it impossible. And lastly, for those who spend their days looking for solutions, this isn't a black and white issue. Look for the grey and you can unlock millions/billions in value. (background: Former red hatter, part of 3 OSS startups, huge OSS fan if done right. personally like the hosted OSS model the best) |