[OSGeo-Discuss] Question about FOSS4G Business Models

[Miles Fidelman]

daniele.ocu ocu wrote:
> Dear all,
>
> Thank you very much for your comments and suggestions on reading 
> material about business and FOSS4G.
>
> The idea for this report would be a summary with metrics showing how 
> companies have changed after adopting FOSS4G. It would be a document 
> to present why adopting open source can be interesting for a company.
Again, with all due respect, I have to suggest that "adopting open 
source" is such a broad term as to be essentially meaningless.

A company can:

- adopt a specific piece of open source technology, as the result of a 
make/buy analysis for a specific software requirement (MySQL vs. 
PostGres vs. roll-your-own) - where all the standard metrics of purchase 
cost, maintenance cost, life-cycle cost apply

- incorporate a piece of open source code into a product

- develop a piece of software for internal use and then release it as 
open source as a way to reduce support costs

- develop a software product and release it under an open source license 
and/or a dual license model, as part of a specific business strategy

- develop a general open source model for internal use of software

- develop a general open source model for a software business

- etc., etc., etc.

What problem are you trying to solve?

-- 
Miles R. Fidelman, Director of Government Programs
Traverse Technologies 
145 Tremont Street, 3rd Floor
Boston, MA  02111
mfidelman at traversetechnologies.com
857-362-8314
www.traversetechnologies.com