[thirdparty/gcc.git] / doc / funding.rst

..
  Copyright 1988-2022 Free Software Foundation, Inc.
  This is part of the GCC manual.
  For copying conditions, see the copyright.rst file.

Funding Free Software
=====================

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.
Commit	Line	Data
c63539ff ML	1	..
	2	Copyright 1988-2022 Free Software Foundation, Inc.
	3	This is part of the GCC manual.
	4	For copying conditions, see the copyright.rst file.
	5
	6	Funding Free Software
	7	=====================
	8
	9	If you want to have more free software a few years from now, it makes
	10	sense for you to help encourage people to contribute funds for its
	11	development. The most effective approach known is to encourage
	12	commercial redistributors to donate.
	13
	14	Users of free software systems can boost the pace of development by
	15	encouraging for-a-fee distributors to donate part of their selling price
	16	to free software developers-the Free Software Foundation, and others.
	17
	18	The way to convince distributors to do this is to demand it and expect
	19	it from them. So when you compare distributors, judge them partly by
	20	how much they give to free software development. Show distributors
	21	they must compete to be the one who gives the most.
	22
	23	To make this approach work, you must insist on numbers that you can
	24	compare, such as, 'We will donate ten dollars to the Frobnitz project
	25	for each disk sold.' Don't be satisfied with a vague promise, such as
	26	'A portion of the profits are donated,' since it doesn't give a basis
	27	for comparison.
	28
	29	Even a precise fraction 'of the profits from this disk' is not very
	30	meaningful, since creative accounting and unrelated business decisions
	31	can greatly alter what fraction of the sales price counts as profit.
	32	If the price you pay is $50, ten percent of the profit is probably
	33	less than a dollar; it might be a few cents, or nothing at all.
	34
	35	Some redistributors do development work themselves. This is useful too;
	36	but to keep everyone honest, you need to inquire how much they do, and
	37	what kind. Some kinds of development make much more long-term
	38	difference than others. For example, maintaining a separate version of
	39	a program contributes very little; maintaining the standard version of a
	40	program for the whole community contributes much. Easy new ports
	41	contribute little, since someone else would surely do them; difficult
	42	ports such as adding a new CPU to the GNU Compiler Collection contribute more;
	43	major new features or packages contribute the most.
	44
	45	By establishing the idea that supporting further development is 'the
	46	proper thing to do' when distributing free software for a fee, we can
3ed1b4ce	47	assure a steady flow of resources into making more free software.