People give their Free time and some even pay money to help develop open source software ( the *real meaning as in the "free software definition") because its a win win situation the more that goes into it the more they get out of it. I like the philosophy of open source and what it stands for. I like they way its promoted for everyone the rich and poor, for example Ubuntu's philosophy.They develop and promote open source because of a love of the system it represents not just the money they can make. Even Apple uses open source in its operating system. I read on the net that some in the apple camp don't like the Iphone being a closed system and feel android will take over the market place making the billions with a free and open OS. imagine if apple did that!!!! how much more market share would they have and how much extra income would they make? android proves open source is a very smart business choice.
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Open source software IS NOT free. You may be free to give it away, but it certainly isn't free to develop.
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You miss the whole point of the open source movement you should think of “free” as in “free speech,” not free as in “free beer.” People support open source, because they have open hearts and want to make a difference to others, some believe when John Lennon said "When the power of love overcomes the love of power, the world will know peace" for some this is more powerful and rewarding than any money can buy. All this sounds like a load of "whatever" but it is happening in the open source movement its what's drives it and why its so big and so global, the Internet we have to day is because of the open source movement. People doing it for the love of it, for what it stands for and not just the money, That's the true power of love. Even some of the software people use here the authors give it away free, I wonder why? they must get the satisfaction of people being happy using it then getting money for it, because they could if they wanted to.
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“Free software” is a matter of liberty, not price. To understand the concept, you should think of “free” as in “free speech,” not as in “free beer.”
Free software is a matter of the users' freedom to run, copy, distribute, study, change and improve the software. More precisely, it means that the program's users have the four essential freedoms:
* The freedom to run the program, for any purpose (freedom 0).
* The freedom to study how the program works, and change it to make it do what you wish (freedom 1). Access to the source code is a precondition for this.
* The freedom to redistribute copies so you can help your neighbor (freedom 2).
* The freedom to distribute copies of your modified versions to others (freedom 3). By doing this you can give the whole community a chance to benefit from your changes. Access to the source code is a precondition for this.
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