[Info-vax] Thoughts on VSI Community License Program

[Phillip Helbig undress to reply]

In article <64e232ad-fc7a-4042-bf1f-bb52f9e2ee5bo at googlegroups.com>,
Chris Townley <cctownley at gmail.com> writes: 

> But they can charge for support services, which they do - that is how
> they make money that in turn supports the open development model 

Yes, but that doesn't mean that that business model would be the best 
for every company.  I believe that Oracle is still more successful than 
Red Hat.

For the bean counters, it shouldn't matter how much is paid for licenses
and how much for support; the sum is what matters.  Same for the
company.  Having no license, or a free license, but paying for support 
makes it easier for hobbyists, of course.  But it also means that 
someone with a stable application, enough spare hardware, etc. is forced 
to pay for support which he doesn't need, unless it is possible to have 
a free license for commercial use as well.  The question, for a company, 
is which model works best.  Would having the possibility to run 
something at no cost attract enough people to pay for support that it is 
worth it?  Maybe for Linux (which must be free anyway), but perhaps not 
for VMS.

If it were my decision, I would have a free hobbyist license for 
personal use, a license at nominal cost for things such as non-profit 
institutions and so on, perhaps slightly more for a developer's license 
(even Oracle has a FREE developer's "license"), and a big discount on 
commercial licenses for new customers.  Unfair, perhaps, but it might 
bring down the costs for all.