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