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NNTP-Posting-Date: Mon, 14 Jul 2014 07:47:34 -0500
From: "Chris Uppal" <chris.uppal@metagnostic.REMOVE-THIS.org>
Newsgroups: comp.lang.java.programmer
References: <Apache-20140704032235@ram.dialup.fu-berlin.de>
Subject: Re: Apache, Eclipse, ... Why do they do this?
Date: Mon, 14 Jul 2014 13:44:56 +0100
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Xref: csiph.com comp.lang.java.programmer:29098

Stefan Ram wrote:
>  Apache and the Eclipse Foundation work to create libraries
>  and software, and then they give it to you for free. Why are
>  they doing this? Several parties pay for them, for example
>  IBM supports Eclipse (for example, in 2001, they supported
>  Eclipse with 40 million USD), why do they do this?

One reason:  to avoid leaving a hole in the market that a competetor might 
occupy.

Another: they need the s/w but know they can't make a profit off it, so giving 
it away gains brownie points (with their own staff as well as the outside 
world) at very little /extra/ cost.

Many more reasons are possible too.

    -- chris