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Thread ID: 38497	2003-10-09 03:43:00	Who profits from Linux?	Bambi (1486)	Press F1

Post ID	Timestamp	Content	User
181612	2003-10-09 03:43:00	I'm confused when it comes to Linux. It's open source and someone has the say...yes, these new changes that this particular user has made are good enough to use in the next release of Linux. I mean, someone is making money out of Linux somewhere along the line aren't they someone must be at the top wearing the pants or skirt? Surely all the money made from Linux can't be from books and packaging alone can it. So Linux is free but, is all the income from books and tutorials that you can get from DSE. For the likes of Mandrake, Suse, Redhat etc. where do these company's get there income from?:|?:|?:|	Bambi (1486)
181613	2003-10-09 03:52:00	RedHat get their money by selling packaged software, with printed manuals, and support. Any improvements they make to the code goes back into the public pool. Their RPM is pretty well the standard for distribution. They are moving away from the individual user now; more for big commercial users ... but the free access to their code is still there. Mandarke don't appear to make enough money ... I get the idea that they were making their new softwares publicly downloadable before they got the full retail versions into the shops. ;-) Linus has the say on what goes into the code ... but he doesn't get paid for that. He has however been given some very good jobs because he has become known as a very clever guy. Many of the others who lead the software development groups are in the same position ... they do Linux because they enjoy it, but they have real jobs because they are very good programmers.	Graham L (2)
181614	2003-10-09 04:34:00	The people who make money out of "Linux" are mainly the people and companies that sell solutions based around "Linux".	segfault (655)
181615	2003-10-09 04:40:00	Lets not forget all those companies/people advertising copies of Linux in the back of PCWorld for 35 bucks a copy. Get it for free/burn it to a 20c cd,onsell it for 35 bucks........ ?:| ?:| ?:| ?:|	metla (154)
181616	2003-10-09 04:44:00	So does the man behind Linux get royalties from the Linux company's i.e. Mandrake etc. And I don't know anyone who buys it from a retailer, they just copy someone elses copy or buy for $10 of the Internet. (without a book of coarse) Surely If they charged a little more for the software (flamed) they could develop it further or fast track it to bring it to where Windows is now (more flaming).	Bambi (1486)
181617	2003-10-09 04:53:00	> Get it for free/burn it to a 20c cd,onsell it for 35 > bucks........ ?:| ?:| ?:| ?:| Yes I know this! I'm talking about the developers and the people at the top. Not you and I and every other man and his dog who uses Linux.	Bambi (1486)
181618	2003-10-09 05:04:00	In some sense, the end user of Linux profits from Linux... because you don't necessarily have to pay for it to get hold of it. That said, the companies that sell support for Linux profit, so do the publishers (of books & manuals, that is), and it wouldn't be hard to say that Linus Torvalds must surely get some special "rewards".	agent (30)
181619	2003-10-09 07:05:00	>>Get it for free/burn it to a 20c cd,onsell it for 35 bucks........ Well yes, but in my experience not many people buy it. Lots of people offer it for sale (as cd's) so there is plenty of choice. GNU/Linux really has an unusual business model. Some say that it cannot survive against the proprietory software model. The software is free to use but distributors can charge distribution costs. The guy that created Lindows (from what I read) was pushing the limits of the GNU distribution model i.e. you can't take Linux, claim it as your own and charge (mega)bucks for it. The GNU licence prohibits that. With Linux there is no company which owns it and therefore receives money for each licence sold. Ok there are companies making money selling books and the like, but proprietory software has that too. I sell the odd copy of Linux but it does not make me much money (from a pure business perspective, its probably not worth it). It is a very interesting issue. Microsoft or SCO or IBM cannot buy it and smother it (of course, a USA court might find for SCO and then we may have a major problem).	Dolby Digital (160)
181620	2003-10-10 09:25:00	Its a little like F1 - no charge. People working together to find a good way to get things going.	Rod ger (316)
181621	2003-10-10 20:09:00	> So does the man behind Linux get royalties from the > Linux company's i.e. Mandrake etc. Some people might think I'm going to sound like Richard Stallman, but this is probably a good time to explain what "Linux" really is. Linux is a kernel that is licensed under the GPL. It was started by Linus Torvalds and is developed by thousands of programmers around the world. The kernel is useless by itself. Being licensed under the GPL means that it is free (as in beer, and more importantly free as in freedom) and if you wish to make any modifications, you can do that provided you give the changes back to the people who created the software originally. What we really run is the GNU system (using Linux as a kernel). GNU was started by Richard Stallman as a free alternative to UNIX. GNU stands for GNU's not UNIX. Richard was the brains behind the GPL license, and hence all the GNU software is under the GPL, with the exception of some GNU software being under the LGPL. The GNU project created (and still creates) things such as compilers, debuggers, text editors, etc. There are too many to name but there is a complete list on www.gnu.org I don't think that Linus or Richard would get any payments from GNU/Linux companies, because these companies instead provide hackers (the good kind, not what the media portray them as) to work on these software projects. That said though, VA Linux did give Linus some shares when their went public years ago. If you're interested in the history of Linux, GNU and the Free/Open Source Software movement, NZLUG (NZ Linux Users Group) are showing Revolution OS in Auckland on the first Monday of November. It's a documentary about the history of GNU and Linux. Check http://www.linux.net.nz about a week before then for details.	segfault (655)
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