doc/funding.rst

   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
  47 assure a steady flow of resources into making more free software.