Readers like you help support MUO. When you make a purchase using links on our site, we may earn an affiliate commission. Read More.

Since open source software is available for free to everyone, how do these companies make money? I've heard about donations, but what else source of income do these companies actually have that make it possible for them to provide their products that are free of charge?

Donald Spaulding
2012-09-07 01:30:21
Money isn't everything
Darren Reynolds
2012-09-06 11:45:07
also they rely on the community making donations!
matt
2012-09-05 18:33:30
depends, for example Google open sourced android os, they make money from searches people do on android and clicking on ads. Also apps for android. Depends on a company.
MAKEUSEOF VIDEO OF THE DAY
SCROLL TO CONTINUE WITH CONTENT
Luka Prebil
2012-09-05 17:12:15
Advertisement like Google Ads for example. Also Oracle for example sells Ubuntu on DVDs too if you wish to support them.
shaurya gupta
2012-09-05 16:57:31
They giveaway their creations for free. Then they sell new modules and expertise versions that have extra advanced features.They have OEM tieups, ads and of course donations.
Oron
2012-09-05 11:40:30
There are many models. For online services, advertising is an obvious one, but for desktop applications, the most common form is to sell support. You can download the software and use for free, and of course you can seek help on web forums etc. If you want professional support though (as a business would), you would buy that from the company. Several distros of Linux are distributed on that basis. Some companies also offer bespoke customization or software-writing services based on the software.
James Bruce
2012-09-05 08:37:23
Offering premium support is a primary method for many open source movements like Ubuntu; free fr all, but if you want us to help you get stuff sorted, pay up.
Justin Pot
2012-09-05 14:14:29
Offering premium support for an open source project is win-win. Average people like you and me can use the software for free, the companies and communities behind the project make enough money to pay developers and corporate clients who would otherwise overlook open source start to take it seriously. Ubuntu is a great example of this: because commercial support is available more people use the software, and because big companies like Google are now paying Canonical for Ubuntu support Canonical has more money to put into the Ubuntu project. Which in turn means the product everyday people get to use is better-funded and tested in large environments. It's a great model and I hope to see it succeed.
Saikat Basu
2012-09-05 07:33:43
Wikipedia for instance, works on donations. Then there are some large financial contributions from donors like Google and various charitable foundations. Now, Wikipedia also has a shop [http://shop.wikimedia.org/] Read about Craigslist in this interesting NY Times article - http://dealbook.nytimes.com/2006/12/08/craigslist-meets-the-capitalists/
MrXlover
2012-09-05 05:38:14
Let's take firefox, which receives money from Google for using it as a by default search engine, or Canonical, which sells Ubuntu server and support for it
Tim Brookes
2012-09-05 05:26:19
As many have already said, advertising plays a large role though there's not tons of money to be made that way especially if you're only using AdWords-style mass advertising solutions. Better still is selling ad space, i.e. backgrounds or banner ads directly to prospective advertisers as you cut out the middle man and aren't relying on clicks to bring in the money. Certain open source efforts can be used in an enterprise manner, or as Rajaa pointed out with OEM deals. Giving away software is one thing, but selling a machine or device already running said software and taking a cut of the manufacturing income is a modest yet viable way of making some money.Another way would be through content, so a model like Spotify where many open source libraries are used in the application (which is free, with a limited access to the music library) and then monthly charges are paid for the content is another option. Naturally Spotify isn't open source, but this model could apply to some open source models.
i0ni
2012-09-05 04:36:39
Ads on the website and on the installer (toolbars, additional software, custom search engine, custom homepage).
Shakirah Faleh Lai
2012-09-05 03:42:37
Advertisements and sponsorship keep them alive.
Rajaa Chowdhury
2012-09-05 02:06:14
OEM tie-ups, advertisements, etc.