I find it quite funny how people assume equality betweeen "open source software" and "free software"

No case!! PHP vs ASP is topic for another forum.
However, ASP lacks on one point where PHP becomes stronger: Flexibility.

Your correct, and it has already started with things like:

game and/or rendering engines:
Java Monkey Engine, Irlicht, Ogre, etc.

Modelers:
Blender, Wings3D, etc.

As these products mature and get better, there will be no good reason to buy that $1,000,000 engine, or $2,000 modeller.

As for money in open source: It's not going to happen. However, open source projects are good way to get noticed by another company. These companies can then hire you as a "special" (well paid) consultant when they start to use the product you took the initiative to develop. It's also a big + for your resume.

Quote: Original post by leoptimus
I'm after the money too, and I'm not defending Open Source.

Just I wonder how the Open Source can be too powerful.

Take a look what happens to the Web industry: Open source takes the road; commercial propietary solutions on web development are very impopular; while Open Source software becomes more stronger and popular : Apache, MySQL, Postgree, PHP, Linux... etc.

If so, very soon open source will attack game industry.

Comparing Closed propietary software with Open source is not productive. We are moving too far from the purpose of this forum.

The question is how to move to Open Source and Keep alive (with $$$)?

It is important, because the victory of Open Source is imminent, and it will cover all aspects of the technology enviroment in the near future. IBM has moved to Open Source. May in the future Microsoft will have to do the same, for survive.

Quote: Original post by leoptimus
The question is how to move to Open Source and Keep alive (with $$$)?

Realize what the end user wants to pay for. People often pay to have their food ready-made instead of cooking themselves. They buy clothes, have their water and electricity delivered to them, delegate house heating to companies. They don't repair their car, television or radio anymore. They hire baby-sitters, they use cabs, get their hair cut by professionals and so on. They also move out of the lawmaking and ruling process.

Why?

As I said above, a constant trend that the world has seen since the industrial revolution is the constant increase of the value of one's time. People will pay so they can have more time to spend on interesting things. Now, as you might have noticed, video gamers are not experts in programming or configuring a game. A very simple step to ensure that 99% of your legal end users will buy your game is to use a special open source licence:

(1) Anyone may ask at any time for the source code of your game.
(2) Your source code contaminates other source code in a GPL-like fashion.
(3) Binaries may not be distributed. The source code must be distributed alone (no compiler/linker bundled with it).

(1) and (2) make your game open source, which (3) does not prevent. In fact, I don't think any Open Source proponent out there would see ANY problem with (3), since the source code can always be transformed into a binary, and it's done this way in most distributions anyway. (3) prevents anyone from distributing easy-to-use programs: the code must be compiled before being used, which for most of the population will involve downloading a compiler, a linker, a makefile interpreter, and the associated libraries (400MB DirectX, anyone?)

EDIT: I almost forgot:
(4) Anyone redistributing the source code must also add a disclaimer stating that this is a modified, non-official version of the game that was not part of the original playtesting and QA.

And besides, the source code does not include the graphics, which may not be distributed without the artist's permission, although anyone can make up their own.

Therefore, what your users pay for (and you keep your monopoly on) is the ability to play the game without having to gather the pieces and learn how to compile a program first.

Well, I definitely depends on the type of software - earning money with some free business management framework will be much different than with some simple 2D game, probably.

Some ways people are making money with free software at moment:
1. Support services - yes, source is available, but understanding it takes time and effort. I you wrote the program, you have HUGE advantage over others.
2. Selling proprietary licenses. Say, you release super-quality 3D engine under GNU GPL. Now all game companies, who use your engine, have to make the source of their games available - UNLESS they arrange special liensing deal with you for $$$.
3. Writing custom add-ons and extensions, either free or proprietary for your customers.
4. Write manuals, tutorials etc. and sell paper copies. Again - you wrote the program - you know it better than others.
Of course - there is no guarantee, that you manage to make much of your investment back. But it is the same with proprietary software - you may end up with a program nobody wants to buy.

Lauris

Remember to read this:

http://www.gamedev.net/reference/articles/article1836.asp

Making games with Open Source doesn't mean that you have to do your game titles as Open Source.

But certainly, making games will be more profitable than making Game Technology tools.

Check out the first reference:

http://www.gamedev.net/community/forums/topic.asp?topic_id=406748

Someone ask for a game making tool. Then the first guy answers with his recommendation. Say it laughter, Which? Blender. What happens to Virtools?

Quote: Original post by leoptimus
Say it laughter, Which? Blender. What happens to Virtools?

You have successfully proven that beginners and amateurs use Blender and not Virtools. How does it matter?

Initially, Open source solutions were usable for the most advanced developers who are able to understand the technology right? So commercial products were focused on beginners making things easy for them. ( That was the reason which many programmers choose Microsoft Visual Studio over GNU tools ).

But today, many open source tools are suitable for beginners too. So what's next? There will be anything for the commercial countparts? Open Source will takes everything.