“How do you sell “free” software? Simple. You surround it with
applications, technical support, training and certification
options, and a slew of professional services.
“That’s the business model growing up around Linux…”
“A year ago, about 73 percent of our customer base were
developers,” says [Ransom] Love, [CEO of Caldera Systems]. A recent
Caldera survey, however, revealed that 98 percent of the vendor’s
customers are now “mainstream, corporate individuals.
“Linux diehards–those technical heavyweights responsible for
bringing the OS into corporate America through the back door–scoff
at the notion that support is a sticking point.”