The extent to which the software can be monetized – how much revenue can be generated from it – depends on what the software achieves and what alternatives solutions are available, he believes. But here’s the thing: the traditional GPL approach means that potential customers for open source software can choose to download a “community” version of the software and use it for free, or pay a subscription for what’s essentially the same underlying software – albeit with the promise of some quality, security and sometimes feature enhancements, plus support.