Open Source and Money

How to get paid for open source: Day Job

• Employers are seeking folks to participate in FOSS ecosystem

• Experience with OSS

• Track record of contribution

  • Github
  • Large project commit logs, which sometimes are GitHub fork

• Understanding of OSS ecosystems

  • Licensing / IP rules
  • Community

How to get paid for open source: Contractor/Consultant

• Usually with expertise in a particularly hot FOSS tech

• Generally need 2× pay to break even

• May be a side job

• Keep options open

How to get paid for open source: Nonprofit

• Set up a nonprofit organization dedicated to your project

• Fund with

  • Social funding e.g. Kickstarter, Patreon
  • Grants, sponsorship

• Never 501(c) yourself: use an umbrella such as Software in the Public Interest

How to get paid for open source: Entrepreneur

• Do this earlier rather than later

• Big upsides

  • Full control — upside money potential
  • Gives a great distribution channel
  • Partly free workforce

• Some downsides

  • No "IP assets" makes funding harder
  • Business models tend to be complicated

• Talk to someone if you want to do this

How corporate views Open Source

• Used a lot for in-house dev

• View free licenses as good, viral as bad

  • Keep their mouth shut about the latter

• Pretty essential to everything now