Call for Examples of Open-Source Money Makers

by on March 1, 2010 · 14 comments

Because of some recent skepticism about the economic viability of open-source software (and because of an upcoming presentation I’m giving on the topic), I’m calling on the TLF readership to give me some examples of companies—from big-name brands to small design shops—that are making money through creating or contributing to open-source software projects.

I’m not just looking for millionaires like Matt Mullenweg of WordPress, I’m also looking for examples like design shops contributing to the development of projects like Drupal, independent developers promoting themselves through successful open-source products, or small-scale software support companies who also give back to the code base.

Please leave a comment with as many examples as you like.

SHARE: 14 comments

Cord Blomquist / Cord Blomquist spends most of his time pining for the singularity. To pass the time while waiting for this convergence, he serves as the New Media Manager at the Mercatus Center at George Mason University. Before landing this sweet gig, Cord hocked policy writing for the Competitive Enterprise Institute, toiled in the halls of Congress, and even worked in a crouton factory. In college, Cord spent his hours studying political philosophy and artificial intelligence, resulting in an unhealthy obsession with Lt. Commander Data. All of these activities will, of course, be viewed as laughable when he is ported from this crude meatspace into the nanobot cloud.

Previous post:

Next post: