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I've got a framework for PHP that I've developed for about 3 weeks total, but it's quite ready to be released ... if I choose to do so. In this economy I cannot just take what I have done and release it for free and feel just (because I need the money it could garner), and yet I am torn by my appreciation for open source projects. I want to eat and I want to share as open source. I'm sure some understand my conundrum right off the bat.

As an example of the pros and cons of my project, here's a very quick comparison against CodeIgniter. My framework is 10x faster at the base speed (blank CI versus the basic demo of mine) and gets upto 20-30x faster elsewhere. Yet, my framework lacks many things that CI has like advanced routing (with regex, or named parameters) and ORM. If I was to compare it to a similar framework in another language, I'd call my work the Sinatra, or Ramaze, of PHP.

I need some extra income. This is a flat-out fact, and yet I don't want it to be a strictly commercial project.

I like open source, and I want to contribute my own work. Yes, I know frameworks for PHP are a dime a dozen, but I think I might have something here. So, I don't want to let my work go entirely.

So I remain torn. Licensing can help, but only when people are honest. I don't believe in putting "DRM" into my software. Yet, I don't have enough features to say, "If you donate/pay you'll get X other features!" and make a benefit to this.

How do I (can I) sell this? How do I promote it and release it as open-source for free uses? How do I license my work adequately for these purposes?

What is your general policy or tips for projects like this? Especially when you want a cut of the profit someone would get using your project commercially. What licenses, restrictions, etc, do you think would work in this model?

I appreciate any answers which might help me to figure out what to do.

Edit:

To clarify on what I'm thinking, let me add this: this is my pet project. It's something that I made because I felt its lack in the market of PHP frameworks, and have been maintaining it for my own works. But, unlike most my work, I would really like to make this public. I want people to see it, try it, use it, and work with it.

However, I've put in enough off-hours time into this for it to be just given away. I appreciate the open source model, but I don't see how I can just donate some 80+ hours of work for free for a speculative increase in my "reputation" within the software world. PHP frameworks are a dime a dozen and I think I've made a good one, but I'm sure there are just as many others who've done the same. Mine may be better, but it's got an equal or greater chance of being average to poor.

I'd love to release my pet project to the world under an open source license. But, I'd rather someone not take my work and make software that nets some $30k in profits, and not give me a small slice of it. I'm not being greedy--I wouldn't care if it were only $100 for a profit that large.

I am simply trying to figure out how, when, or if I even should, monetize the work that I've done for myself.

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I feel that if you actually believe you have started something big, release it to the open source world. If it get's adopted and becomes a standard for many, this in itself will open many more profit making opportunities for you as the creator/inventor. The biggest potential for you to make big money (in my opinion) is to be a major player/founder of a big initiative.

于 2009-06-13T15:05:35.213 回答
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坦率地说，你可能对你的框架有多好以及它有多准备好发布（以任何形式）有一个过度夸大的想法。

首先，你说你花了三周的时间来开发。好吧，如果你能在三周内做到，那么其他人也能做到，这是事实。

其次，发布商业产品需要获得许可证（依靠律师）、编写文档、建立网站来推广产品、有一些支付方式、获得合适的法律结构来销售软件、保险（一般来说，你需要某种专业的赔偿——开源通常不提供赔偿；商业软件则不同）、簿记、会计等。

第三，它是 PHP，所以源代码保护将是一个问题。我的建议是将其视为社会问题而不是技术问题，这意味着如果有人要窃取您的软件，您无能为力。更重要的是，不要因为害怕海盗和小偷而伤害（甚至不便）您的合法用户。

最后，开源的优势之一是您可以在开发中获得社区的努力。一旦你商业化，你就会失去它。即使您使用双重许可，您也不能获取某人的 GPL（例如）代码贡献并在商业许可下发布它。

您可能需要钱，但销售软件通常是一种糟糕的方式。更长远的观点是让人们采用您的框架为您自己建立个人资料和名称，而实现这一目标的最佳方式是开源。Linux 可能是免费的，但我可以向您保证，Linus Torvalds 从他的努力中获得了可观的收入。

于 2009-06-13T15:31:02.220 回答
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如果该框架确实不错，并且在发布后看到最低采用率，那么您也许可以找到一些 PHP 咨询工作。

对我来说，新软件的主要问题是可信度——它可能是迄今为止最好的软件，但如果没有人在使用它并且找不到评论，我不想成为一只豚鼠。如果您没有尽早找到客户，那么从商业软件中赚钱可能会非常困难......

于 2009-06-13T15:56:41.830 回答
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The best way may be to ask for donations. I would definitely donate if I liked your framework.

于 2009-06-13T15:01:53.303 回答
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您可以尝试 QT 模型：使用免费的 copyleft 许可证（您必须检查哪个是合适的）和付费商业许可证的双重许可证框架。

于 2009-06-13T15:09:12.193 回答
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你最好选择双重许可证。它类似于 MySQL。

于 2009-06-13T15:30:48.897 回答