How do I release/sell/promote a semi-commercial/open-source project?

Question

I've got a framework for PHP that I've developed for about 3 weeks total, but it's quite ready to be released ... if I choose to do so. In this economy I cannot just take what I have done and release it for free and feel just (because I need the money it could garner), and yet I am torn by my appreciation for open source projects. I want to eat and I want to share as open source. I'm sure some understand my conundrum right off the bat.

As an example of the pros and cons of my project, here's a very quick comparison against CodeIgniter. My framework is 10x faster at the base speed (blank CI versus the basic demo of mine) and gets upto 20-30x faster elsewhere. Yet, my framework lacks many things that CI has like advanced routing (with regex, or named parameters) and ORM. If I was to compare it to a similar framework in another language, I'd call my work the Sinatra, or Ramaze, of PHP.

I need some extra income. This is a flat-out fact, and yet I don't want it to be a strictly commercial project.

I like open source, and I want to contribute my own work. Yes, I know frameworks for PHP are a dime a dozen, but I think I might have something here. So, I don't want to let my work go entirely.

So I remain torn. Licensing can help, but only when people are honest. I don't believe in putting "DRM" into my software. Yet, I don't have enough features to say, "If you donate/pay you'll get X other features!" and make a benefit to this.

How do I (can I) sell this? How do I promote it and release it as open-source for free uses? How do I license my work adequately for these purposes?

What is your general policy or tips for projects like this? Especially when you want a cut of the profit someone would get using your project commercially. What licenses, restrictions, etc, do you think would work in this model?

I appreciate any answers which might help me to figure out what to do.

Edit:

To clarify on what I'm thinking, let me add this: this is my pet project. It's something that I made because I felt its lack in the market of PHP frameworks, and have been maintaining it for my own works. But, unlike most my work, I would really like to make this public. I want people to see it, try it, use it, and work with it.

However, I've put in enough off-hours time into this for it to be just given away. I appreciate the open source model, but I don't see how I can just donate some 80+ hours of work for free for a speculative increase in my "reputation" within the software world. PHP frameworks are a dime a dozen and I think I've made a good one, but I'm sure there are just as many others who've done the same. Mine may be better, but it's got an equal or greater chance of being average to poor.

I'd love to release my pet project to the world under an open source license. But, I'd rather someone not take my work and make software that nets some $30k in profits, and not give me a small slice of it. I'm not being greedy--I wouldn't care if it were only $100 for a profit that large.

I am simply trying to figure out how, when, or if I even should, monetize the work that I've done for myself.

Answer 1

The best way might be to ask for donations. I would definately donate if I like your framework.

Answer 2

I feel that if you actually believe you have started something big, release it to the open source world. If it get's adopted and becomes a standard for many, this in itself will open many more profit making opportunities for you as the creator/inventor. The biggest potential for you to make big money (in my opinion) is to be a major player/founder of a big initiative.

Answer 3

You could try the QT model: Dual-license you framework with a free copyleft license (you'll have to check which one is appropriate) and a paid-for commercial license.

Answer 4

You better choose dual licence. Its similer to MySQL.

Answer 5

To be absolutely frank, you probably have an overinflated idea of how good your framework is and how ready it is to be released (in any form).

Firstly, you said it took you three weeks to develop. Well if you can do it in three weeks, so can a bunch of other people and that's a fact.

Secondly, release of a commercial product would require having a license (count on a lawyer for this one), writing documentation, building a Website to promote the product, having some means of payment, getting a suitable legal structure to sell software, insurances (generally speaking you'd need some sort of professional indemnity--open source is generally provided without indemnity; commercial software is different), bookkeeping, accounting and so on.

Third, it's PHP so source code protection will be an issue. My advice would be to treat this as a social rather than technical problem, meaning if someone is going to steal your software, there's not a whole lot you can do. More to the point, don't hurt (or even inconvenience) your legitimate users for fear of pirates and thieves.

Lastly, one of the advantages of open source is that you can get community effort in development. You lose that as soon as you go commercial. Even if you go dual license, you can't take someone's GPLed (for example) code contribution and release it under a commercial license.

You may need money but selling software is generally a terrible way of doing it. A longer term view would be to have you build a profile and a name for yourself by people adopting your framework and the best way to make that happen is for it to be open source. Linux may be free but I can guarantee you Linus Torvalds earns a healthy income from his efforts.

Answer 6

If the framework is indeed good, and sees a minimum adoption after it is released, you might be able to land some PHP consulting work.

For me the main problem with new software is credibility - it might be the best software yet, but if no one is using it and if reviews are nowhere to be found, I don't want to be a guinea pig. Making money from commercial software can be very hard if you don't find customers early on...