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NAME
fsf-funding - Funding Free Software
DESCRIPTION
Funding Free Software
If you want to have more free software a few years from now, it makes sense for you to help encourage people to
contribute funds for its development. The most effective approach known is to encourage commercial
redistributors to donate.
Users of free software systems can boost the pace of development by encouraging for-a-fee distributors to donate
part of their selling price to free software developers---the Free Software Foundation, and others.
The way to convince distributors to do this is to demand it and expect it from them. So when you compare
distributors, judge them partly by how much they give to free software development. Show distributors they must
compete to be the one who gives the most.
To make this approach work, you must insist on numbers that you can compare, such as, "We will donate ten dollars
to the Frobnitz project for each disk sold." Don't be satisfied with a vague promise, such as "A portion of the
profits are donated," since it doesn't give a basis for comparison.
Even a precise fraction "of the profits from this disk" is not very meaningful, since creative accounting and
unrelated business decisions can greatly alter what fraction of the sales price counts as profit. If the price
you pay is $50, ten percent of the profit is probably less than a dollar; it might be a few cents, or nothing at
all.
Some redistributors do development work themselves. This is useful too; but to keep everyone honest, you need to
inquire how much they do, and what kind. Some kinds of development make much more long-term difference than
others. For example, maintaining a separate version of a program contributes very little; maintaining the
standard version of a program for the whole community contributes much. Easy new ports contribute little, since
someone else would surely do them; difficult ports such as adding a new CPU to the GNU Compiler Collection
contribute more; major new features or packages contribute the most.
By establishing the idea that supporting further development is "the proper thing to do" when distributing free
software for a fee, we can assure a steady flow of resources into making more free software.
SEE ALSO
gpl(7), gfdl(7).
COPYRIGHT
Copyright (c) 1994 Free Software Foundation, Inc. Verbatim copying and redistribution of this section is
permitted without royalty; alteration is not permitted.
gcc-13.2.0 2023-07-27 FSF-FUNDING(7)
NAME
fsf-funding - Funding Free Software
DESCRIPTION
Funding Free Software
If you want to have more free software a few years from now, it makes sense for you to help encourage people to
contribute funds for its development. The most effective approach known is to encourage commercial
redistributors to donate.
Users of free software systems can boost the pace of development by encouraging for-a-fee distributors to donate
part of their selling price to free software developers---the Free Software Foundation, and others.
The way to convince distributors to do this is to demand it and expect it from them. So when you compare
distributors, judge them partly by how much they give to free software development. Show distributors they must
compete to be the one who gives the most.
To make this approach work, you must insist on numbers that you can compare, such as, "We will donate ten dollars
to the Frobnitz project for each disk sold." Don't be satisfied with a vague promise, such as "A portion of the
profits are donated," since it doesn't give a basis for comparison.
Even a precise fraction "of the profits from this disk" is not very meaningful, since creative accounting and
unrelated business decisions can greatly alter what fraction of the sales price counts as profit. If the price
you pay is $50, ten percent of the profit is probably less than a dollar; it might be a few cents, or nothing at
all.
Some redistributors do development work themselves. This is useful too; but to keep everyone honest, you need to
inquire how much they do, and what kind. Some kinds of development make much more long-term difference than
others. For example, maintaining a separate version of a program contributes very little; maintaining the
standard version of a program for the whole community contributes much. Easy new ports contribute little, since
someone else would surely do them; difficult ports such as adding a new CPU to the GNU Compiler Collection
contribute more; major new features or packages contribute the most.
By establishing the idea that supporting further development is "the proper thing to do" when distributing free
software for a fee, we can assure a steady flow of resources into making more free software.
SEE ALSO
gpl(7), gfdl(7).
COPYRIGHT
Copyright (c) 1994 Free Software Foundation, Inc. Verbatim copying and redistribution of this section is
permitted without royalty; alteration is not permitted.
gcc-13.2.0 2023-07-27 FSF-FUNDING(7)