Tuxware: for sustainable free software development

Updated March 26, 2007

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There are wider sights, lots of fun and huge gains in efficiency waiting for you if you make the step to GNU/Linux and the Free Software world.
This is no scoop, but it's more true everyday.

Now here is the scoop:

you can get personal and targeted support for GNU/Linux apps.
you can make money distributing GNU/Linux apps.
you can make money developing GNU/Linux apps.

"Windows isn't an Operating System, it's a third party revenue generating tool. In order for Linux to succeed, it will need to generate revenue for third parties as well."
-- posted January 25th, 2006 at 11:34 am by Chris to » Blog Archive » Hello World...This is Linux.

"When we speak of free software, we are referring to freedom, not price."
-- GPL License Version 2, dated June 1991.

The history so far

For more than a decade, most computer users have undergone a de facto monopoly situation with respect to their operating system. Much has been said about these conditions, established with the more or less direct participation of nearly all computer hardware manufacturers and software editors. The reason to the perpetuation of this highly questionable monopoly lays mostly in imbricated corporate financial interests and in the cleverly maintained ignorance of most computer users. A vast majority doesn't even know that they are giving away about $100 to Microsoft each time they change computer, in an operation very similar to a forced and hidden sale.

In the meantime, the Linux kernel has emerged to raise the GNU free software philosophy to its full potential. A huge amount of free, top quality applications, libraries and device drivers is available today for Unix like OSes, among which Linux of course. The GNU philosophy is the key factor in this overall quality, because open sources allow application developers to share highly optimized routines, rather than each time reinvent the wheel all alone with more or less fortune, like Windows programmers, who don't have access to source code of applications nor system.

Most hardware manufacturers didn't care at all to provide drivers, as the Linux users base was (and still often is today in 2007) considered marginal. Also, many of them fear commercial retorsion from Microsoft. Still there have been numerous benevolent hackers to make an incredible work of reverse-engineering and provide fully functional Linux drivers for almost all hardware on the market today.

Those amazing achievements happen everyday, while hardly anybody gets a penny for them! Now try to imagine what it could be if all those talented creators could get some money from their efforts. Maybe they could start working part-time, even one day quit a boring job to work on open source software, rather than doing this on their free time, at the expense of their open-air and social activities. They would then be able to concentrate on ambitious projects, the kind that would make us totally reconsider what we can expect from a computer.

Why it is necessary to do something now

While Open Source software originating from the GNU world has marked valuable points those late years (e.g. Mozilla Firefox and Thunderbird, OpenOffice.org) this does not mean at all that GNU/Linux is about to enjoy a significant part of the desktop base. Due to the law of numbers, the successes of those remarkable pieces of free software is essentially demonstrated within the realm of locked software, i.e. Windows...
Some Open Source advocates today seem satisfied from the fact that GNU/Linux has somehow made its way into the business world, AKA the real world. Actually developers are hired to work on maintenance or customization of free software projects (at least originally free, since GPL allows non disclosure of developments made on a free software basis as long as they are for internal corporate use only). As a matter of fact, almost all companies that use or support GNU/Linux place ethics and coherence well after immediate profit. For instance, in summer 2005, Trolltech has released its free edition of Qt4 for the archetypal unfree Windows, allowing young developers to remain captive of Microsoft. The engineers at Google work on GNU/Linux systems to develop outstanding software, which until recently ran on Windows only. Congratulations to Google for the new Google Earth release, which runs on Linux (June 2006).
After years, NTFS, the file system used on XP, just begins to be decently writable from Linux. Anyway who will prevent Microsoft from regularly releasing some new proprietary "feature" carefully crafted to be incompatible, taking advantage of their market share to maintain and enhance the fracture. How long will there be Linux geeks ready to go on spending a huge part of their time and energy and creativity to such quests, whose keys they are denied for mercantile motives, while they would be able to engage in developing truly innovative stuff that would appall many in the software plants?
Finally, we must take notice that GNU/Linux seems to hardly get new users today (cf http://www.linuxcounter.com).

Today, small amounts can easily be paid through the Internet. So a remuneration policy is possible, for more personal involvment and amazing results.

The Tuxware scheme on the developer side

Remain GPL, but give the opportunity to register your application for a moderate amount. This will give the right to get email support and to be rewarded for bringing new users to your app. Give half of the registration fee to the registered user designated as sponsor by a new registering user. Put no limit on the number of recruits per sponsor, apart from his capacity to provide email support.

The Tuxware scheme on the user side

Register the applications you use and enjoy most. Tell about them to GNU/Linux users you happen to get in contact with. Do not consider Windows users as lost souls, but rather explain them how they are abused. Tell them that they too can make money just by talking about their favorites apps.

The advantages of the Tuxware scheme

The Tuxware scheme unleashes the power of an exponential process with nobody left aside. Even people who register and never try to find recruits are by no means cheated: they are warranted an email support which is competent, since made by enthusiastic supporting users of this particular application. Moreover, the amount they engaged is typically a small fraction of what they should have paid for a single release of an equivalent closed source Windows application, with very variable support conditions.
The Tuxware scheme has a social aspect because it can motivate different people, not only the ones who are willing and can afford working for glory, but also the less favored ones, for instance those who have to work to pay their studies, and more generally all people with some skill and spare time, wherever they live.
The registered user will have total liberty on his way to find prospects, using the Internet or just talking to his friends and relations or organizing Tuxware meetings ;-). He might also be satisfied to have a great application with source code, dedicated support and unlimited upgrades for a modest fee. He might be glad to participate in a community bound to educate people rather than reaching down to them and exploiting their ignorance. Support should be provided by the direct sponsor, and up the sponsors tree in case of difficulties.
Along these basic principles, more sophisticated facilities might eventually be set up at the whole GNU/Linux community level. Thus could be rewarded not only the application developers and those who bring them new users, but also kernel and basic libs developers, bug trackers, documentation or encyclopedic content writers, translators, etc.

To sum up, we have 4 keys to gain success:

A self-sustaining spreading process.
Personal incentive.
Communication and fun.
Opportunities for everyone.

Some links related to promoting GNU/Linux: