I just heard Eric Raymond address that very subject rather well on this most recent Linux Lunacy Geek Cruise. If I'm not mistaken, his words are on his site.

If it's not anything in there (and this is costing 30 cents a minute from the ship so I must be brief), then the bottom line is:

The real money in software is not in locking up access to the software -- it's in making the software completely ubiquitous and then charging for support.

-- Randal L. Schwartz, Perl hacker
Be sure to read my standard disclaimer if this is a reply.

In reply to •Re: Funding Open Source / bounty-hunting... by merlyn
in thread Funding Open Source / bounty-hunting... by ff

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