Why most of the people tend to confuse "open source" with "free work" Richard Cruz (253) 237-4139 On Sun, Jan 7, 2018 at 12:55 PM, fs <fs@szmidt.org> wrote:
* I might very well go outside the intended purpose with this list, * in which case I apologize! You can remove it with my blessing. * The Biz list appears to not be in use. * I just see that we all want to be successful with Freeswitch * and many want to make a living with it, thus:
How do you make a good living from Open Source Software with, for example, Freeswitch? (Staying away from promoting any business, but sharing valuable experiences.)
What works for you and what does not work for you?
I've been operating for years and give away a lot of my time to both potential clients as well as paid clients. My product is not yet changed to using Freeswitch but I'm working on it. Generally my rule is that if I can do something verbally without using my computer I help them. In other words they don't have to be afraid of talking with me.
But there's also a technical limit on how far I go. It needs to be a fairly simple thing, such as on a heavily loaded server use RAID 10 and SAS drives. That security is a vital consideration and why, including some pointers on how to implement that. My thought on it is that if my clients cannot stay in business I won't have any clients. And I do care. I'm also the happiest when I have helped someone win.
Not that simple, rule wise, but I strike a balance. A good paying client receives more free service than one that does not. I'm also taking into consideration their attitude, which leads me to a huge point. A client who does not assume full responsibility for his business and equipment and is looking for some scapegoat to blame, I drop.
In ten years I've only had four refund requests and they were all well serviced beyond what they paid for, for example I spent two hours helping a guy to get in and change the Linux root password. He kept saying "Maybe I should not be in this business." After two hours I said "Yes, maybe you should not, I think he was trying to use my willingness to help. But the bottom line was he was not willing to be responsible for his server, and could not write down and enter the same password twice, and needed someone to blame when he screwed it up. Which he did nonstop.
As a generality small business eat up your time and large ones expect to pay. When I depend on someone servicing the product I got from them I insist on paying as I need them to remain in business.
When you use Paypal, add a function that adds the IP address of the buyer, this way when their CC company are told they did not authorize the purchase you can show the IP that was used. PP have always gone to bat for me when I get a refund request as they have all been scams and I could show it. However, if they used a CC then the CC company makes the final decision on the refund.
--- fs
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