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.IX Title "FSF-FUNDING 7"

.TH FSF-FUNDING 7 "2004-11-05" "gcc-3.4.3" "GNU"

.SH "NAME"

fsf\-funding \- Funding Free Software

.SH "DESCRIPTION"

.IX Header "DESCRIPTION"

.Sh "Funding Free Software"

.IX Subsection "Funding Free Software"

If you want to have more free software a few years from now, it makes

sense for you to help encourage people to contribute funds for its

development.  The most effective approach known is to encourage

commercial redistributors to donate.

.PP

Users of free software systems can boost the pace of development by

encouraging for-a-fee distributors to donate part of their selling price

to free software developers\-\-\-the Free Software Foundation, and others.

.PP

The way to convince distributors to do this is to demand it and expect

it from them.  So when you compare distributors, judge them partly by

how much they give to free software development.  Show distributors

they must compete to be the one who gives the most.

.PP

To make this approach work, you must insist on numbers that you can

compare, such as, ``We will donate ten dollars to the Frobnitz project

for each disk sold.''  Don't be satisfied with a vague promise, such as

``A portion of the profits are donated,'' since it doesn't give a basis

for comparison.

.PP

Even a precise fraction ``of the profits from this disk'' is not very

meaningful, since creative accounting and unrelated business decisions

can greatly alter what fraction of the sales price counts as profit.

If the price you pay is \f(CW$50\fR, ten percent of the profit is probably

less than a dollar; it might be a few cents, or nothing at all.

.PP

Some redistributors do development work themselves.  This is useful too;

but to keep everyone honest, you need to inquire how much they do, and

what kind.  Some kinds of development make much more long-term

difference than others.  For example, maintaining a separate version of

a program contributes very little; maintaining the standard version of a

program for the whole community contributes much.  Easy new ports

contribute little, since someone else would surely do them; difficult

ports such as adding a new \s-1CPU\s0 to the \s-1GNU\s0 Compiler Collection contribute more;

major new features or packages contribute the most.

.PP

By establishing the idea that supporting further development is ``the

proper thing to do'' when distributing free software for a fee, we can

assure a steady flow of resources into making more free software.

.SH "SEE ALSO"

.IX Header "SEE ALSO"

\&\fIgpl\fR\|(7), \fIgfdl\fR\|(7).

.SH "COPYRIGHT"

.IX Header "COPYRIGHT"

Copyright (c) 1994 Free Software Foundation, Inc.

Verbatim copying and redistribution of this section is permitted

without royalty; alteration is not permitted.