Can open source technology make money?

Open source technology is everywhere, on phones, laptops, or even the websites you open. Thousands of companies have opted for open source business. But how can they earn money from something offered for free like open source?

Red Hat is a leader in open source and they have an extremely clear business strategy. They provide the famous Linux open-source operating system under the name Red Hat Enterprise Linux for businesses with support for 10 years. Given the fact that open source projects are changing day by day, Red Hat's guarantee of support is extremely valuable.

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"When businesses buy software from us, the functions are only a small part of that," Red Hat President and CEO Jim Whitehurst said, "We sell open source products to businesses. Just like they sell software, we have a technical team that keeps track of every change like fixing bugs or enhancing Linux security and ensuring that our customers' systems are up-to-date and stable. "

Paid support is a revenue stream utilized by many open source companies. Companies often offer open source products that come with annual service support contracts. In many cases, companies can even bring their employees to work as technical support in the clients' offices.

Companies also offer professional services that come with open source software. Some customers often need to help install open source technology or help customize it according to their needs, and they are willing to pay to make sure the software works well. These professional services also include quality assurance and training.

But why are businesses willing to pay for open source support? Usually, they will feel more comfortable when they pay for the service instead of being served for free. In fact, when buying open source software, they do not buy software but buy support services immediately. In an easy way, they buy the guarantee that someone will be responsible for solving their technical troubles.

Besides this Red Hat strategy, there are many other successful strategies. ActiveState does business by selling an upgraded, commercial version of open source programming languages ​​like Perl, Python and Tcl. for developers. ActiveState solves copyright issues related to integrating open source products into other products, ensuring that the software works well and provides technical support services.

As for WordPress - a company that provides free blog services, they make money by selling an upgrade of this blog platform - named WordPress Enterprise - with special features and customizations not available in the free version. They also provide blog hosting hosts and technical support services.

Learn from the strategies of these companies, you can determine whether you can succeed with open source business. But before doing so, remember the following points:

- Once the customer has paid for your service, you can earn more by providing related features. For example, when customers choose WordPress, they will be willing to pay for the theme or security plugins that support their blog.

- For many businesses that need to be known, open source will be an effective option, making it easier for them to bring products to more people. But remember, your products and services must be good, and ready for business.