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| <!-- man begin DESCRIPTION --> |
| <h2 class="unnumbered">Funding Free Software</h2> |
| |
| <p>If you want to have more free software a few years from now, it makes |
| sense for you to help encourage people to contribute funds for its |
| development. The most effective approach known is to encourage |
| commercial redistributors to donate. |
| |
| <p>Users of free software systems can boost the pace of development by |
| encouraging for-a-fee distributors to donate part of their selling price |
| to free software developers—the Free Software Foundation, and others. |
| |
| <p>The way to convince distributors to do this is to demand it and expect |
| it from them. So when you compare distributors, judge them partly by |
| how much they give to free software development. Show distributors |
| they must compete to be the one who gives the most. |
| |
| <p>To make this approach work, you must insist on numbers that you can |
| compare, such as, “We will donate ten dollars to the Frobnitz project |
| for each disk sold.” Don't be satisfied with a vague promise, such as |
| “A portion of the profits are donated,” since it doesn't give a basis |
| for comparison. |
| |
| <p>Even a precise fraction “of the profits from this disk” is not very |
| meaningful, since creative accounting and unrelated business decisions |
| can greatly alter what fraction of the sales price counts as profit. |
| If the price you pay is $50, ten percent of the profit is probably |
| less than a dollar; it might be a few cents, or nothing at all. |
| |
| <p>Some redistributors do development work themselves. This is useful too; |
| but to keep everyone honest, you need to inquire how much they do, and |
| what kind. Some kinds of development make much more long-term |
| difference than others. For example, maintaining a separate version of |
| a program contributes very little; maintaining the standard version of a |
| program for the whole community contributes much. Easy new ports |
| contribute little, since someone else would surely do them; difficult |
| ports such as adding a new CPU to the GNU Compiler Collection contribute more; |
| major new features or packages contribute the most. |
| |
| <p>By establishing the idea that supporting further development is “the |
| proper thing to do” when distributing free software for a fee, we can |
| assure a steady flow of resources into making more free software. |
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| Copyright © 1994 Free Software Foundation, Inc. |
| Verbatim copying and redistribution of this section is permitted |
| without royalty; alteration is not permitted. |
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