How do you make money from free software?

I'm not one to really ask for much but I plan to release some of the applications and games I have made for free and was looking for some ideas as to how to make some revenue from doing so.

To get a better feel for the question and see some previous responses check out this post

charge for: support shipment installation physical media etc.

I had a look at your blog and to be honest, you will not get better responses than the first two you got there.

puddinlover said: I'm not one to really ask for much but I plan to release some of the applications and games I have made for free and was looking for some ideas as to how to make some revenue from doing so.

To get a better feel for the question and see some previous responses check out this post

donations :)

you'd be surprised how many you get.

Hi,

Adverts on the website the application can be downloaded from.

-Ash R

Have a look here: http://pythonide.blogspot.com/2008/10/how-to-make-money-with-free-software.html

OK, I've twisted your wording a bit, but it is still a good read ;)

I write custom software for business concerns which takes care of a lot of busywork that my clients would otherwise be paying human beings to perform.

The software itself runs on a set of complex datasets written by hand. The systems are complex, so most of my revenue comes from retainer contracts between myself and my clients, wherein they pay me a flat monthly fee, and I support the software and write some of the more complex datasets for them when they come up against a new project they want my software to perform.

SO - the software is free, and if they want to sit down and really figure it out, they can do so and not pay me anything. However, the long-run costs associated with training folks to use it are prohibitive, and most folk prefer to pay the retainer and skip having to train their own crew.