(libgomp.info.gz) Funding

(libgomp.info.gz) GNU Free Documentation License
 
 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.
 
      Copyright (C) 1994 Free Software Foundation, Inc.
      Verbatim copying and redistribution of this section is permitted
      without royalty; alteration is not permitted.
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