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To be able to give an answer to this question requires a better understanding of what the FOSS reality is about. A must read is the study on the aEconomic impact of F(L)OSS: http://ec.europa.eu/enterprise/ict/policy/doc/2006-11-20-flossimpact.pdf

This study provides a.o. the following observations:

Almost two-thirds of FOSS software is still written by individuals; firms contribute 15% and other institutions another 20%;
FOSS market shares have seen considerable growth in the past five years;
FOSS market penetration is high. Apart from the Public sector in the private sector, FOSS adoption is driven by medium- and large-sized firms;
The US has the edge in terms of large FOSS related businesses;
Europe has a greater individual contribution which has led to an increasing number of successful European FOSS-SMEs;
Annualized and adjusted for growth at least 800 million Euros (yearly) in voluntary contribution from programmers is made.

So what does this tell us? Governments, Medium and Large sized companies are benefiting from FOSS-work, which represents a market value of about Euro 12 billion. Secondly, that the majority of FOSS-work is done by individuals whose efforts represent an annual value of 800 million Euros.

So where is the money going, and who benefits the most? I feel these questions need to be answered, while keeping in mind that the FOSS community has come this far because it is driven by enthusiasm and community spirit. Nevertheless the answer is confronting. Governments, Medium and large-size companies seem to benefit the most (12 billion). Do they hire the FOSS-individual from around the corner, or do they go for the big names delivering FOSS + services? In this case, raising the question is giving the answer.

With the growth of SaaS and the ASP/GPL3 loophole this situation will most certainly persist, unless a business model can be created whereby the FOSS-individuals and/or their FOSS community can start benefiting from the above. Our internal discussion pivoted around the question if the GravityZoo concept (as SaaS-enabler) is indeed providing such a viable FOSSaaS business model.

Let me start by stating what we know we can provide to the (FOSSaaS) developer:

A networked computing platform to convert their existing software into a FOSSaaS proposition or built FOSSaaS from scratch;

A marketplace/distribution channel to deliver their FOSS to their users as a Service in a one to many environment;

A (not-mandatory) model to make money by implementing advertising-objects in his/her FOSSaaS proposition;

So does the above give an answer to the question I raised in the beginning? Yes, I do believe that GravityZoo has the capabilities to provide the FOSS community with a viable SaaS business model. But simultaneously I must admit that while writing this article I realized that we do not have all the answers and most certainly that we do not know all the questions. We are scouting new territory!

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