I started an open source project in 2010 and the project is gaining some visibility. We are now 2 active committers and we hope to engage more contributors in the future.We received today the second offer to partner with a company. This time is a hosting company that wants us to offer a hosting plan with a automatic installation of the software and receive a affiliate payout for each (the company is well-known).The question is:Is there a way we can share the revenue within the project contributors?Our main goal for now is to have more contributors and make better software, not profitability...PS: We are also in the process to assign the project to the Outercurve Foundation.
Open Source Project and Revenue
open source;project management
There are many ways to share profits.  Personally I favour a merit based share: the more you contribute, the more you get.  However, using a good metric can be hard -- lines of tested code, documentation, test cases?...  If you create a limited company those member will get a share of the profit, I would recommend making sure that whoever joins invest (minimum $300) into the company.   This makes sure they are serious. From then, a share of the profit can be determined by whatever means. Whatever you do, please take legal advise from a reputable solicitor/lawyer before signing anything with anyone.