How does one make money from free software ?

• Stéphane DESNEUX
  Open Care Europe
  

Summary

Free software ('free-ware') is used today by numerous industrial companies as part of their production. The companies take advantage of the access to the source code whether in terms of finance, durability or progress. OpenCare, created in March 1999, is today the European leader of high level technical support in the field of open-source software, with a turnover of 30 Million Francs and fifty employees operating between Orsay and subsidiaries in California, Italy and Shanghai. Its revenues do not come from the ownership of the software which it produces, but from the quality of its consulting services and the technical support service it offers which accompany these products. Can the free software crusade transform itself into a profitable business ?

Summary translated from French by Rachel MARLIN.

• The entire article was written by Élisabeth BOURGUINAT.

To obtain this article, you can :

• download it for free in French (PDF help) or contact ecopar@paris.ensmp.fr (Reference RT170101).