Is it possible to make money in the world of Unix-like, unix-way?

Question

linux

How exactly do ordinary people, developers make money there ( don't tell me about Redhat and Canonical companies )? Where do developers get money from if they use software with copyleft licenses?
If I license my code with GPLv2/3(and compatible) , how do I make money from it? Free software might be nice, but what's the point of living?
Please tell me more about this.
I have 2 years that I want to spend for the benefit of my future career (I am now 23 years old). I have an intermediate math background and intermediate C/C++. More interested in programming, less in administration. Is it worth it to delve into the development under linux? I understand that already earlier it was necessary to decide on the platform. And I would also like to stay on the platform until the end, and not retrain in 5-10 years. Or is it better to write and study Windows products? Or, as it is fashionable now, is it better not to waste time and immediately "code pehepe"?

Answer 1

I know of four main ways to make money that are directly related to free software:
- The first, the most direct, but for some reason not less obvious to everyone, is to take and sell copies of free software . Audience: any end users. Examples: Parted Magic, a number of programs for Android, for example, Conversations. High morality: in perfect order. - The second is the sale of support
already known to you . And in fact, sometimes just their name, when some kind of real support begins with amounts slightly larger than the basic contract. Audience: those for whom your program is an instrument of production, that is, companies and entrepreneurs. Example: Canonical already voiced by you. High morality: in perfect order.
“The third is the sale of copyleft exceptions . The audience will be developers of non-free software, and your software should be a (not hard to guess) copyleft library, and often strong. The bottom line is that for good people, your product is free under the terms of, say, the GNU GPL or GNU AGPL, and let the proprietors pay for the opportunity to use it in their own selfish interests. Examples: GhostScript, MySQL. Vysokomorlnost: limps a little.
- The fourth is what Comrade mentioned. CityCat4 - so-called. free crippleware, that is, your full-fledged program is non-free and paid, but it has a free cut-down version. Moreover, both something significant and sheer nonsense can be cut. Audience: anyone. Examples: Odoo, GitLab, ProcessMaker. High morality: from low to none, depending on how much is cut off.
And of course, all of the above can be combined: Qt, for example, provides support (training), and sells exceptions to copyleft (and weak!) And has a completely non-free non-free part. And the Red Hat you mentioned sells copies and provides support. And sometimes this happens: a program for Android called OsmAnd is completely free, but it comes in Google Play in two versions: full for a pretty penny and truncated for free. Once again: both versions are free, that is, there is no moral problem here.
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PS I only listed ways to make money on software as such, assuming that schemes where free software participates indirectly are already obvious, but in the comments they only talk about them, so I should probably mention that yes, of course, free the program can also be:
- Part of the service being sold - most often a specific hosting service, such as Openshift or (if closer to the people) Feedly.
- Part of the device being sold, and the device itself may or may not be free. Thousands of them.
- And finally, just part of a profitable process technology. That is, the company writes (orders) the program for its internal use and could not distribute it at all, but, not considering it its “know-how”, behaves nobly and simply freely shares it with everyone. The most famous example is Reddit (although they've been getting squeamish lately).
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And I still can't help but note that the unix-way has the same relation to freedom as petty to hot.

Answer 2

Where are you coming from? What's the problem with selling? Sell ​​ads, sell support, oh my god, sell free software? Yes, communism has not yet been built, one has to use such crutches as money. Well, in general, the question is similar to "give me money, I will calm down." Because if you are interested in the development of the industry, then the issue of salary somehow fades into the background, by itself. A good specialist is unlikely to be at a loss, and a large contribution to free development only increases his weight. Getting rich on open source will definitely not work, but enough for a comfortable life.

Answer 3

This is mainly the Web, "pehepe" is also UNIX usually, therefore, system administration and the development of native "pehepe" components are included there, and Android is also Unix-like, and here and there UNIX is both the target platform and the "homeland" for everyone IDEs, debuggers, and compilers, including Java and the Android NDK (the same GNU toolchain known as MinGW on Windows).
It’s better not to spoil your future with plans for professional degradation, and if you don’t degrade, then 99% of your skills will not depend on the platform, even though there is a new platform every year.

Answer 4

In general, the question is strange in itself, as well as even more strange (abstruse) answers to it:
- the pianer, who has not really done anything yet and does not know how, asks: "how can I get my daily bread?"
- and clever adult uncles begin (to the best of their knowledge, supposedly) to talk about how and how the world's largest corporations earn their billions ... including on free software.
Moreover, when the correct answer to the question asked lies on the surface and sounds like this: go get hired by your uncle for the service (if and where they take it) and do what they say to do for the salary paid. ;-)
They will say to wash the floors - mine ... and in 5-10 years it will become clear whether you have to retrain ...

Answer 5

well, firstly, everyone sells support for their products
; secondly, large companies sponsor developers because they actively use their products
; thirdly, there is donation, but in its pure form I’m not sure that someone lives on it

Answer 6

Linux is a tool for solving some problems (well, or a whole ecosystem of tools). Yes, there are those who sell pasatizhi. But there are more of those who earn on the use of passion for other non-IT tasks.
Think in terms of "what kind of business should I do, what need of the people to satisfy." And you will need Linux, C ++ or something else for this - it will become clear later.
Starting from the tool is commiting suicide.

Answer 7

The main question has already been answered, I’ll just add:
Participation in open source projects (when at least your pull request was accepted =)), as well as posting your own is a very big plus in a resume for normal companies.

Answer 8

The bottom line is that the GPL license does not restrict the commerce of the software. It obliges to open and provide the public with the source of the program, and also obliges people using GPL-licensed code to do the same. This is the "left" principle. You can also register a trademark and work for the brand. You will be protected by copyright. Those. outsiders will be able to modify and sell your program, but without your labels and name (Example of RedHat and CentOS) How can you make money on this?
-- Receive a donation, with proper promotion of the application, you can receive a pre-donate for subsequent versions. An example is Krita.
-- Provide the source code of the program, but make access to the source repository payable (legal magic). I don't remember where I saw it, but I know for sure that such a scheme is used by many in the west
- Provide support or training
Well, there are probably many more ways, lawyers can provide good help in this matter. Donat is probably the easiest way.

Answer 9

Unix-like and unix-way are completely different things, from different areas. Look at the wiki.
You can make money with both. Lot. I testify personally, for a long time.

Answer 10

No one mentioned the opportunity to make money on the implementation of features for which someone is willing to pay, for example, the bountysource.com platform is quite popular.

Answer 11

If you do not take programming for UNIX information products, then you can earn as a UNIX admin, as well as a freelance web server administrator. In this area, as a rule, the tasks are all typical - setting up and optimizing LAMP, Nginx, and so on. On complex projects, there can be a lot of troubles, such as how to bungle cloud hosting, highload, and so on, which will result in normal money from the customer.