In the wake of a high profile controversy, it's clear: so-called freeriders should be encouraged, not condemned.
Are you cheating if you download open source software without paying for it? Recently, Linux distribution elementaryOS angered users by implying that you are -- an opinion that is hardly new, but no more valid than the last dozen times anyone voiced it.
Freeriding, downloading without donation is usually called.
Project member Cassidy James raised the issue while blogging about why elementaryOS' download interface had changed to include several payment options. In the last year, elementaryOS has been in the top ten page hits on Distrowatch, mainly because of its attention to aesthetic details such as icons and fonts. Perfecting such details is a painstaking task, yet James noticed that less than one-fifth of one percent of downloaders ever paid, and most of those paid ten dollars or less.
However, although free downloads were a tradition in open source software, James went on to say, elementary OS was under no obligation to provide them. Yet unless payments increased, the project might have to resort to "backdoor deals and advertising."
Then, to make the reactions worse, someone involved with elementaryOS apparently made a commented that, "you are a cheater if you download elementaryOS for free." The comment is now deleted, but survives in the discussion of it.
The incident was not the project's finest hour. One commenter described it as "Today's Daily Cringe."
A Financial Don Quixote
To anyone not familiar with free -- open source -- software, arguments against freeriding might sound reasonable. However, within free software, they sound unrealistic.
For one thing, nobody has ever made money from a distribution alone. In fact, the history of Linux is littered with the failures. Linspire, Mandrake, Progeny, Stormix -- all tried to profit from a distribution and failed. Canonical has been trying for a decade, and it couldn't manage the trick, despite regular infusions of cash from its founder. The only way Red Hat succeeded was to focus on selling services.
For another, the idea that project members must be reimbursed is only about five years old. Partly, it arises from the fact that the first generations of free software developers are aging, and naturally wish to support their families while doing what they love.
Many manage to do so by being sponsored by companies that are far-sighted enough to see that paying for a free software developer furthers its goals. However, the well-publicized success of a few crowdfunding campaigns has encouraged other projects in the idea that they can fund themselves instead of simply volunteering, while remaining independent.
It's a heady dream, but not a realistic one. Analyzing the success of free software crowdfunding campaigns on Indiegogo suggests that, for every success story like Raspberry Pi or LInux Voicemagazine, there are over ten failures. Moreover, hardware projects have a greater chance of success than software ones.
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