How to Make Money With Open Source

Can you make a living as an open source programmer? Although it is not easy to make money with open source, several financial strategies can help cover expenses or even turn a small profit for those programmers who've put their work product into the public domain.

Instructions

1. Ask for donations. If your open source program is widely used and enjoyed, some people would be willing and interested in giving you a donation for your hard work. Include a "donate" button on your Web page as an easy way to make money from open source. Even if you do not get many donations, this method does not require much effort on your part, so you do not have much to lose.

2. Include advertisements on your download page. You can include Google Adwords as a quick way to get revenue from ad impressions, or you can find advertisers yourself who match the type of open source software you have created.

3. Create custom features for companies. Many companies that use open source software require special features. You can create special features for the companies and charge a per hour fee or a fee for the whole project.

4. Charge a maintenance fee. While you may not be able to actually charge for the software you have written, you may be able to charge users a maintenance fee for using your software. Your maintenance fee could include fixing glitches or making sure your software is compatible with the user's system.

5. Charge a fee for commercial use. Depending on the type of open source software, you may be able to charge certain users for use of your software. For example, you can let private users and non-profit organizations use your software for free but charge commercial companies for use of your software.

Tips & Warnings

• Although you may not be able to make money directly from open source, there are various indirect methods of profiting from open source programming