GPL, BSD, Opensource/Free Software movement.

I've be a mindless supporter of these movements for years now not because I was a developer myself but because most of them provided me with a lot of useful free software.

However now that I'm becoming more of a programmer I'm questioning the ideology behind these movements.

1. For which situations are these intended? For every developer?
2. Doesn't it go against the developer himself? How can he secure profit while still sustain such projects?

Just willing to learn.
Thanks.

>>21

Not the same guy but,

Isn't that what everybody is trying to do?

How can you compete with other corporations with free alternatives?

I mean sure you can make a better product and gain a better user base. That's understandable.

How would you make profit though. The whole point is to earn a living. How can you earn a living this way? Who would be paying for your work?

Any can't your competitors just copy your methodologies if the source code is freely available. If that was so, wouldn't it be basically impossible to compete with them?