Get Rich Quick With Open Source Software!

It’s hard to believe, but it is possible to buy a Bugatti Veyron by writing open source applications. In case you haven’t heard of the Veyron, its a sleek European hot rod that will set you back about $1.6 million. All that you have to do is write a web browser that gets a 30% market share and your set.

Mitchell Baker, the chairman of the Mozilla Foundation, proudly announced last Tuesday that Firefox generated $52.9 million in 2005. They managed to make $2.4 million in 2003 and $5.8 million in 2004. If the revenues double each year, then 2006 would be $105.8 million. The 2006 numbers haven’t been revealed yet so I’m making an educated guess.

The money from Firefox didn’t come from e-commerce sales. They are the result of people using the Google search bar in it and also searching from the Google start page in the browser. The Mozilla Foundation makes money every time you use Google through Firefox. Now we all know why Google is the first page you see when you run the browser. :)

The success of the Mozilla Foundation shows the importance of advertising revenues and affiliate programs. They really do make money!