Picking a license

[Ethan Furman]

Ben Finney wrote:
> aahz at pythoncraft.com (Aahz) writes:
> 
>> Ben Finney  <ben+python at benfinney.id.au> wrote:
>>> [It is impractical to] sell free software like selling loaves of
>>> bread, but that's a much more limited case and a far cry from your
>>> claim [that it's impractical to sell free software]. Selling free
>>> software is quite practical and a good way to fund development of
>>> software that otherwise wouldn't be written as free software.
>> From my POV, if you're not selling COTS, you're really selling support
>> and consulting services, because that's what keeps your competitors
>> from just picking up your software and reselling it for cheaper. BTDT.
> 
> This thread has revealed some staggering gulfs in concepts as held by
> different people. For example, I don't think it's at all germane to the
> definition of “sell FOO” that “your competitors can pick up the FOO and
> resell it cheaper”. Whether they can or not, that doesn't change that
> fact that one is selling FOO.
> 
> Moreover, I don't try to prevent my competitors from reselling the
> software (so long as they don't misrepresent who holds copyright or
> further restrict the terms). That's part and parcel of the freedoms in
> the software. Indeed, I find that helps the customers trust me more and
> tend to come back when they want something else new; and my customers
> are free to show others the solutions I've already implemented.
> 
> Thus is an ongoing business relationship crafted, including return
> customers and referrals for new work. It really is practical to sell
> free software.
> 

This doesn't make sense to me, but I'm willing to learn -- how do you do 
this in practice?  Are you really selling the software, or rather 
selling things like setup, support, new code (or time to code), etc?

~Ethan~