Hacker News Reader

I guess CDs were not a revenue source after all:

"> If no OpenBSD CDs are going to be released, then probably it is better > to just send a donation to the OpenBSD foundation and/or to Theo de > Raadt.

Vijay, that is the correct way to sustain the software.

The CDs haven't pulled in sustaining revenue for many years.

Based upon income from contributors the Foundation performs a fantastic function -- making worries and problems disappear."

View on HN

Donation-based software is a recipe for constantly having not enough money.

OpenBSD should provide an enterprise license for kilobucks. Not even call it a "support" program, just a license for enterprise use. It could even be the same terms as the BSD license, just name it and give it a price that can easily go on a corporate budget as a line item. It sounds stupid, but enterprise users would rather spend money than not spend money.

SQLite does this

http://www.hwaci.com/cgi-bin/license-step1?

This is a great idea. I'm constantly having to justify that something we didn't pay for can actually be good. Many times I wish the company did have to pay for open source software just so I can throw it in the budget and avoid the argument.

Reply on news.ycombinator.com