Sebastian, > I was referring to people putting money into work because they want > to use the result. we are living in a capitalistic [here it is, the c-word] world. You probably find people willing to pay for what they use, but as good capitalists they want the exclusive rights on it. They don't like the thought, their competitor could get it for free. So you cannot expect industry sponsoring of free software to be significant. I am also skeptical, that sponsored free software can become a vehicle of advertising (imagine a LaTeX package saying in its announce line: This package was sponsored by * Inc, http://www.*.com :-) So what is wrong with academic funding for innovative free software projects? It is probably easier to get and it helps the future development more than priority systems changing with the tide. --J"org Knappen