[nylug-talk] open source/closed source

[Michael Bacarella]

On Thu, Mar 01, 2007 at 01:36:27PM -0500, Paul Robbins wrote:
...
> Could EA Sports create a Linux version of one of they games and sell it
> closed, or would all of that have to be opened (either legally or by
> community pressure)?

The world gets complicated when you try to classify video games as software.
While true they are produced, in-part, by programmers, they're meant to be
treated like consumable ``entertainment content''.

MMORPG developers might be interested in releasing free/open source clients,
but only because they sell access to the world.

> I know there are some in the LUG that probably disagree with the question
> all together because they feel all code should be open.  If that is the
> case, what options are available for a company to make money off of open
> source code.

Shrinkwrap software vendors have very little right now, but it's an issue
of market share more than closed/open.  Essentially, unless the cost of
the port is negligible investing in Linux is not in their best intersts.

More vendors might produce a Linux port if there was a zero cost/low hassle
Win32 -> Linux conversion kit.  But I've certainly never heard of one (it couldn't
be THAT hard to re-jigger WINE so it does this, could it?)  If the kit got
the conversion 99% of the way there and a lone developer on a weekend could
knock out the rest, more closed-source Linux ports might happen.

Oh, also, consider Michael Tiemann's article in the Open Sources book:

	http://www.oreilly.com/catalog/opensources/book/tiemans.html

> I know the currently models say that support or dual licensing
> is the key, and for many products, that is very true. But take the two
> examples I mentioned above. If Turbo Tax created an open source Linux
> version, how much would they really make in support. I would assume that the
> company currently does not receive a lot of calls from Windows customers
> about help with installation or support (maybe I am wrong).  Or the game
> company.  What need would their be for a dual license? Who really would want
> to extend a football game?

TurboTax best addresses the issue by selling a service instead of a
product (http://www.turbotax.com/)

-- 
Michael Bacarella <mbac at netgraft.com>

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