The New York Times: Open Wallets for Open-Source Software

[ Thanks to ll for this link. ]

"The first time Marc Fleury tried to raise money for his technology start-up company, in mid-2000, a venture capitalist told him that he didn't have merely a bad business plan but a terrible one. Not only was Mr. Fleury planning to compete against the likes of I.B.M., but his product was open-source software, which he would give away.

"Four years later, he tried again. His business was still based on the free distribution of code, yet now there was a dogfight among venture capitalists competing to finance his company, called JBoss..."

Complete Story [Editor's Note: Free registration required. A non-registration version of the story can be found at the Lakeland (FL) Ledger. -BKP]

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• ZDNet: Can Open Source IT be a Money Pit?(Apr 14, 2005)
• CNET News: Open-Source Companies Chase Steady Money(Apr 05, 2005)
• The Denver Post: Open-Source Approach Finds Financial Backing(Mar 28, 2005)