If anyone thinks the war is over due to the many victories in the software community with the most prominent battle being Linux, it has probably only just begun, as Open Source spreads into other realms such as Hardware, Music, vehicles, and more.
Open Source is not just a battle over money, it is a war over intrinsic human rights. But that's another story and this article is just one example that money CAN be made in Open Source.
We will take a brief look at two different companies, Arduino and MakerBot Industries, to show two different paths on an Open Source business model. The story of both companies is, of course, not over and only the future knows what is in store for them, as many Open Source Software projects and companies have found.
The Open Source business model is not complete, but it certainly has had time to develop. Wikipedia has an article specifically related to the business model of Open Source Software. The Open Source Initiative has created a business case article which crosses over from just Open Source Software. And then there are dozens of articles referenced at Open Source Strategies on Open Source Business Models and Strategies.
MakerBot is a company that produces 3D printers and has other realms of focus. According to the public account of MakerBot's history, it began shipping 3D printer kits in 2009. Over the years, it has produced a number of versions of its hardware and made its money selling kits as well as software and consumable items such as filament. At the end of 2012, it took a turn and released its newest product under a closed license. In 2013, MakerBot was sold while the enterprise itself remained mostly unchanged.
Arduino has it's own public account of Arduino's history. It began as a student project in 2005 and the company continued on from there as its own entity to where it is, today. It is believed that by mid-2011, over 300,000 officially branded Arduino's had been produced. It makes its money selling kits and software as well as other, complimentary products.
The two companies above join the ranks of many, many other, successful Open Source based companies. There are pros and cons to both paths. In the case of MakerBot, there has certainly been backlash from the core community due to the company closing its source and selling itself to a larger, commercial entity. While Arduino has quite likely been making good money selling it's assembled product and kits, it has to compete against products that are derivatives of its own creation. Yet without a doubt, both companies are doing just fine, years after opening their doors. Pun intended.
So it is for other Open Source companies that exist as lies the potential for financial gain by other companies that will embrace Open. In fact, some companies that began as closed or proprietary are seeing the benefits of open and begin to prop open their shutters, at least a bit. There is a huge brand value to be gained by this move as well as the benefit of having unpaid developers doing a lot of grunt work that would otherwise be cost prohibitive. In the open community, this type of corporate behaviour can be seen in negative light, yet if done well, it can be very beneficial.
Companies like Ubuntu, Red Hat, Sun, Google and IBM have benefited greatly from partnering with Open Source initiatives, even if their core products are not the Open Source product, itself. Sony and Apple use open source products in the closed, proprietary products to great gain.
So at the end of the day, while a company may worry that it is giving up the baby if it chooses open source, the reality can be... quite different.
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