Should I make my project free software?
- by SkyDan
The story
Over the last couple month I have been working on a pretty big project. It's an enterprise-level software, I designed to be used at a local gym, but I believe it can be used in other places, where things like keeping track of clients, attendances, purchases and payments are required.
The problem
Well recently, I started to think on how to mature this project from being home-made. Not just because I want my project to grow but also because I would like to have some gain from it.
The solutions?
And here I saw 2 paths:
License the software under some restricted license and try to sell the software to other business around. This way I can get some money for college (I am a high school junior right now)
License the software under some free license, publish it on GitHub or something, and try to engage other developers to participate in the project. This way I get experience of working in a team and a better chance that the project will keep growing. The latter would be a good + for my resume, when I'll trying to find a job.
So far both ways seem pretty exciting and beneficial to me. The first one offers a good college career, while the second one offers some additional experience and the project's growth.
The questions
Can anyone point to some other +/- of these 2 options? What would the better option in my situation and why? Or are there other options?