🚀 go-pugleaf

In article <DAVIDM.92May17122612@consilium.com> davidm@consilium.com (David S. Masterson) writes:

> Sure, maybe developing some tool that
>others can find useful would give me a thrill and validate my efforts, but is
>that all I can expect from developing "free" software?  Are the distributors
>and supporters of "free" software the only ones who can make "money" (perhaps
>money is a bad word, but this is a capitalistic world, so don't rule it out
>unless you have an alternative to capitalism).

My girlfriend develops databases for small businesses. She GPLs them,
charges the first business for the development, and then if someone
else gets a copy, they're likely to give her a call to customize it
for their business. That's a nice way to use the GPL; the people she
likes to work for don't mind having a GPLed database, so she loses no
sales, but possibly gains additional clients. In fact, a client has
little reason to object to the GPL, since she already holds copyright
of her core routines and most of the work she does for a client is
producing the custom screen layouts and reports that they require.

Are there any examples of someone becoming fameous (within the
software world) for developing free software, and this fame gets them
a good job? Were I a CS undergraduate, I would probably be using this
strategy.