[linux-audio-dev] Re: image problem [was Re: [Alsa-devel] help for a levelmeter]

[Simon Jenkins]

Paul Winkler wrote:

>On Fri, Nov 08, 2002 at 07:06:47PM -0500, David Gerard Matthews wrote:
>  
>
>>not true.  And of course, there is the whole (somewhat
>>discredited by present economic circumstances) argument that you *can* 
>>make money of off free software.
>>    
>>
>
>there are some business models that seem to work.
>Zope Corporation and Reportlab both seem to be doing OK,
>largely on the "give away the software but charge a bundle
>for support and consulting" model.
>Of course, for both of them, "the software" consists
>of development tools.  I don't know of anyone who's tried
>this model with end-user audio software.
>
Another way a company can make money off free software is to
embed it, with suitable modification, in custom hardware.

Audio-related examples might include things like:

Making a multi effects rack unit with pro-audio i/o, a heap of DSP
power,  front panel display and controls, and filling it with the
pick of the available open source algorithms and/or making it
possible for people to compile and load whatever algorithms they
need into it.

Making a dedicated h/w disk recorder whose software 'guts' consist
of Ardour's back-end code.

Or imagine the following:

A rack-mount PC, built from the ground up for audio, ultra quiet,
extensive support, comes fully configured with the software you
choose... snip, blah blah blah, OK, I mean something very like the
Carillion PC.

Except that it runs linux and the apps are all open source so
whatever software options you choose, however many of those
boxes you tick on the website, the price refuses to go up. It just sits
there stubbornly at the base system price (and even that could be
lower than a competitor's if the competitor is installing Windows).

When enough end-user linux audio apps are "ready for prime-time"
somebody should be able to make a lot of money selling a box like
that.

Simon Jenkins
(Bristol, UK)