The business models presented by Hecker and Raymond are based on observation of companies that used free software as part of their business models, though they perhaps lack a degree of systematisation and abstraction in their taxonomy. In its document "Free Software/Open Source: Information Society Opportunities for Europe?", the European Working Group on Libre Software (http://eu.conecta.it/paper/) makes an analysis based on how free software projects are funded rather than on the basis of their business models and regardless of whether the project is linked to a specific company:
Public funding.
Non-profit private financing.
Financing for those who need improvements.
Financing with related benefits (O'Reilly and Perl).
Financing as internal investment.
Other (bonuses, development cooperatives, use of markets to establish contact between clients and developers).
Its "Financing as internal investment" section, however, contains a classification of business models, which include, among others, the possibility of generating revenue through services, as a result of the competitive advantage afforded by being the main developers of a given software project.
Model |
Differentiation |
Revenue |
Licences |
Examples |
---|---|---|---|---|
Better knowledge here |
Better understanding of the product: must be the developer of the product or a collaborator. |
Related services: custom developments, adaptations, installation, integration. |
Free |
LinuxCare (in its early days) Alcove |
Better knowledge here with constraints |
Better understanding of the product: must be the developer of the product. Part is kept proprietary. |
Related services and sale of proprietary part. |
Free and proprietary |
Caldera Ximian |
Source of a free product |
Producer, almost entirely free product. |
Related services: custom developments, adaptations, installation, integration. |
Free |
Ximian Zope Corporation |
Source of a free product with constraints |
Proprietary product in principle. Subsequent release as a strategy to expand adoption and other advantages of free software. |
Sale of commercial version. |
Free and proprietary |
Artofcode LLC Ada Core Technologies |
Special licences |
Best knowledge here Offer of proprietary version for customers who do not want GPL. |
Sale of commercial version, and related services. |
GPL and proprietary |
Sleepycat |
Sale of brand |
Based on image and brand, allowing the product to be sold at a higher price. |
Sale of distributions, and related services (including certification and training) |
Free |
Red Hat |