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How to make money from OpenOffice.org plugin ?

 
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Hello All,

Openoffice.org is open source platform . its extensible architecture allows developers to develop OOo plugins.

I was surprised when i read in news that FSF is willing to compile a list of free OOo plugins FSF To Create OpenOffice Library of FOSS Extensions Only . this means there exist some commercial OOo plugins. this surprised me as i don't Imagine how a user who chose OOo could pay for a OOo plugin. this sounds not consistent with the OS nature of OOo suite.

what do you think guys of making commercial OOo plugins?
is it ethical ? (well ethical may be a big word!)
is it a good approach to build a successful business?
should all OOo developers open source their plugins?
what are your argument for or against commercial OOo plugins?

Thanks much.
 
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I don't see what the big deal is. Eclipse (the IDE) has both free and commercial plugins. If I am buying a development extension, I'd certainly rather it be part of Eclipse than a standalone production that I will have to launch separately.

I think the real question is whether all software should be free. And for that, I certainly think the answer is no.
 
Yahya Elyasse
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Jeanne Boyarsky wrote:I don't see what the big deal is. Eclipse (the IDE) has both free and commercial plugins. If I am buying a development extension, I'd certainly rather it be part of Eclipse than a standalone production that I will have to launch separately.

I think the real question is whether all software should be free. And for that, I certainly think the answer is no.



Yes I agree not all software should be free. software developers invest lots of time and effort to build good software and there should be some way to reward them for their efforts. However building commercial extensions to FOSS software frameworks is to me not consistent with the philosophy of FOSS. developers in OS world should never sell software. they could generate money by offering paid support to users ect..selling a commercial extension to a FOSS product is for me polluting the FOSS spirit and philosophy. of course this is a personal opinion which could be wrong .
I don't know if you agree with me on this? We should keep a purist approach to software building and never mix the two mainstream software development schools (commercial vs FOSS)
what do you think?
 
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There is nothing "impure" about charging for work. It is a fair trade. The charger gets money. The chargee gets a product or service. No one has been taken advantage of. You are charged for the food you eat. Unless you have your own land to farm, you won't live very long without some form of money.


I believe there is something "impure" with demanding free services at the expense of others.

 
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Mike Isano wrote:

I do believe there is something "unpure" with demanding free services at the expense of others.



I myself wrote an OOo extension and released it as open source and free. I'm badly in need of money yet I'm hesitating to close My OOo extension and charge for it.
So it's others who take my free services at the expense of me not the opposite.
Just a clarification so people don't misinterpret my intentions or opinions.
 
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Yahya Elyasse wrote:I don't know if you agree with me on this? We should keep a purist approach to software building and never mix the two mainstream software development schools (commercial vs FOSS)
what do you think?


I don't think a commercial extension to FOSS is bad. Remember that the FOSS developers contributed under a specific license. It either allowed or disallowed commercial extensions. In the case of the former, they knew what could happen. In the case of the later, the commercial extension is illegal.
 
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Thank you for your responses.
as i said I developed an OS Openoffice Extension and Now i'm jobless and in need of a revenue. i talked with one of my friends (a java developer ) about commercializing my OOo extension and he discouraged me to do so.
I posted this thread to collect more opinions about commercializing OS extensions. my conclusion is that most don't disagree with the idea of commercializing OS extensions.

Now is there some techniques to predict whether your product would be successful & worth the trouble to commercialize?
I'm not a business man and lacking most of these marketing and business skills. how can one prepare himself to perform a successful commercialization process of his software product?

thanks much.
 
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