| SourceForge adopts eBay-like sales model for open-source software |
Dec. 06, 2007
One question that people who don't know how open-source businesses work is: "How do you make money from open-source software?" SourceForge.net has a new answer to that question: sell services and support to customers using an eBay-like market.
SourceForge.net, with millions of monthly visitors, is already one of the world's largest Web sites for open-source development and distribution. What it didn't have, though, was any way for its uses to cash in on their open-source projects. On Dec. 6, that changed forever. Today, SourceForge launched an online marketplace for technology professionals to buy and sell service and support for open-source software.
SourceForge.net Marketplace launches with more than 600 service listings. Some major projects offering service and support include: OpenBravo, JasperSoft, Zenoss, Compiere, Firebird, Nagios and Spring Framework. The platform, which is tightly integrated into the SourceForge.net Web site, has been heavily tested in closed and open beta cycles since May.
"The demand for support around open source software continues to grow," said Mike Rudolph, vice president and general manager of SourceForge.net and a former senior eBay executive. "We're extending what is already the world's most open and transparent open-source hub to allow technology professionals to buy packaged support directly from the creators of the software."
Marketplace gives open-source projects and service providers a seamless process for selling services to the site's global market of IT buyers. Sellers are free to set their own pricing, support levels and service types. The Marketplace's reputation system allows buyers and sellers to rate each other after each sale. There is no fee for listing services on SourceForge.net Marketplace.
SourceForge, according to Rudolph, "has been working on Marketplace for over a year. We started an open beta in mid-May. In the process of getting the software right, we also got the Marketplace shelves stocked. So, as Marketplace opens today, there's a nice selection of slightly under 700 open-source programs, including many top products, available for users."
"For integrated management services, it's clear that our customers want a consolidated place to buy both software and services," said Bill Karpovich, CEO and co-founder of Zenoss, an integrated open-source server and network management company. "Having them seamlessly connected is a real value add. SourceForge's Marketplace is a great addition to their work with open-source projects, because you can get the support and services you need as soon as you find the open-source software you want. Marketplace is a great addition to the SourceForge site, and we're very excited to be a part of it," Karpovich said in a statement.
Interested buyers can search services by project or browse general categories of services. Payment is specified by the seller and may include PayPal, check or credit card.
Similar to how open-source development is geographically dispersed, Marketplace opens up economic opportunity for both established and emerging open-source projects by providing access to a global market.
"We're in a unique position to bring open-source software and services together in a place people already trust and with a model that is highly scalable," Rudolph said. "Our goal, as it has been from the start, is to help drive the adoption of open-source software and enable success throughout the open-source community."
"We believe," Rudolph continued, "that we're filling a gap for would-be open-source business users. Businesses like open-source software. You can see that in how Red Hat and Linux have become successful. But, while people like the software, they're running businesses and they need high-end support, and they haven't had a way to get it for many open-source programs. We believe that with Marketplace, corporate users and open-source developers will be able to find each other and do business together."
Steven J. Vaughan-Nichols
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