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Ask HN: Anyone making a living off of desktop applications?

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Re: Ask HN: Anyone making a living off of desktop applications?

#91

Post by dejv »

stcredzero wrote: post #77
dejv wrote: post #70

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Three main things: - memory space for printers and sound cards changed in Vista, so when you have some constellation of printers and you change the printer in dialog whole program just crash, because it is trying to touch restricted memory or something. - running Paradox in network is quite difficult. Whole database was written in 80s before things like tcp/ip was thought as a good thing and all the networking part w…

Three main things: - memory space for printers and sound cards changed in Vista, so when you have some constellation of printers and you change the printer in dialog whole program just crash, because it is trying to touch restricted memory or something. Can this functionality be separated out into a different process, or called from a DLL compiled using Visual Studio?

Probably not: the application has around 100 printouts (with tons of spaghetti logic behind it making it impossible to count all variations) and it will be very hard to switch to new reporting framework.

The big problem with legacy software without huge user base and limited space for growth is that it just don't make sense to invest huge amount of time and money in it.

Re: Ask HN: Anyone making a living off of desktop applications?

#92

Post by leecarraher »

videogames are mostly standalone and viable, as are OS (less-and-less), and apparently steve gibson makes a pretty nice living off of spinrite which is a hard drive maintenance and recovery tool. Which I suspect gives insight on the viability of the standalone software space. Needing extreme performance and inately interfacing with the computer's hardware. As a maxim, if you can put it on the web without sacrificing anything significant, you probably should.

Re: Ask HN: Anyone making a living off of desktop applications?

#93

Post by azeirah »

I've made an addon-program for game streamers, one day I decided to go "heck", why not ask some money for a license.

I can't really say I'm making a "living" off of it but for a student I do have a /really/ nice income.

It's a /very/ specific application though. It swims along with the bigger fish like Open Broadcaster Service and xsplit, when they go down, I go down.

Re: Ask HN: Anyone making a living off of desktop applications?

#94

Post by partisan »

stcredzero wrote: post #79
partisan wrote: post #2

This type of analysis paralysis will kill your project. > I have to think about the future, and so I have to try to make the right choice on this.. You don't have to make the right choice right now. For now, focus on getting something complete so that you can prove the idea out.

It's not about making the ultimate right choice. It's about not getting trapped in a dead end, or in a situation where you can't change your mind.

There is virtually no dead end corner that the OP can paint him/herself into. They could pick literally any language or approach, platform or format, and create a successful business from it. The risks come from not being able to _easily_ make changes, but those risks are mitigated by the choices you make in developing the software, at an architecture level, using proper design and weighing out the realistic possibilities, not the universe thereof.

Concretely, if you create a web-based API, then you can put any front-end on it. If you layer the application correctly, you can move some of the layers closer to the client as needed, adding caching for performance. If the problem is one that can only be solved through a desktop application, then the whole question was moot to begin with.

I've seen enough Excel-spreadsheets-as-million-dollar-business to know that the only thing standing between you and your completed product is yourself, especially when you have technical skills to actually do the work.

Re: Ask HN: Anyone making a living off of desktop applications?

#95

Post by stcredzero »

partisan wrote: post #94
stcredzero wrote: post #79

Earlier quoted context omitted.

It's not about making the ultimate right choice. It's about not getting trapped in a dead end, or in a situation where you can't change your mind.

There is virtually no dead end corner that the OP can paint him/herself into. They could pick literally any language or approach, platform or format, and create a successful business from it. The risks come from not being able to _easily_ make changes, but those risks are mitigated by the choices you make in developing the software, at an architecture level, using proper design and weighing out the realistic possibil…

The risks come from not being able to _easily_ make changes

In my experience, this is pretty much the same thing as being unable to change your mind.

Re: Ask HN: Anyone making a living off of desktop applications?

#96

Post by tdkl »

cylinder wrote: post #73

I can offer the perspective of the customer. I am a bit fed up with web apps these days, and would find a good desktop solution refreshing. You should include cloud backups and sync, however, that is key. But, web apps are getting slower and slower -- even the 1 or 2 seconds it takes to open a new link stresses me out when I'm in the zone and trying to work fast. I am even trying to move away from Gmail to Outlook no…

Check out eMClient desktop email application, it's definitely faster then Outlook and supports Exchange.

Re: Ask HN: Anyone making a living off of desktop applications?

#97

Post by antaviana »

jventura wrote: post #38
wslh wrote: post #18

One of my two small companies develop Windows development libraries for use in desktop and server applications and I see the native desktop apps doomed, except if you are targetting the enterprise (best in niche markets) and you know how to sell to enterprises. Rule of thumb #1: if you can build the same application for the desktop or the web, choose the web. Don't think more. My company does Windows drivers and some…

The application that I want to build is for a niche market (but not for companies), that is why I am in doubt between desktop and web. One thing that makes me want to stay way from web is that if this thing does not work, I would like people to continue using the application, even if I don't update it anymore. If it runs on a server, I will not be able to stop the server until everyone stops using the application for…

If it is not for work and you are not sure, go desktop with pyramidal approach (don't plan for upgrades, just include them, so that everyone has the latest).

If it works well, then plan for the upgrade circus, or if your market allows it, subscriptions. If it goes south and you get tired of it, just release a final free "sunset" edition.

Re: Ask HN: Anyone making a living off of desktop applications?

#98

Post by mherrmann »

kowdermeister wrote: post #78
mherrmann wrote: post #32

I'm just launching a file manager ( https://fman.io ). In general I'd say use web / SaaS whenever possible. If you do go with desktop, you may be interested in a blog post I just wrote about the technologies we ended up picking: https://fman.io/blog/picking-technologies-for-a-desktop-app-... .

Very good idea, if you can pull off what sublime did to text editors, then take my money :) I'm still using Total Commander, but I definitely see the need for a more focused app that help my directory browsing habits. Subscribed, rooting for your project.

Thanks! :-)

Re: Ask HN: Anyone making a living off of desktop applications?

#99

Post by pnathan »

I would suggest a desktop app on the JVM - C# possibly if you have access to that and your customers care - but nail down the upgrade story.

Web Apps immediately invoke an entire side set of knowledge of sysadmin and management that, unless you're comfortable doing that - are a pain.

There are reasons to do web apps, but I don't think ease of operating or development are one of them.

Re: Ask HN: Anyone making a living off of desktop applications?

#100

Post by partisan »

stcredzero wrote: post #95
partisan wrote: post #94

Earlier quoted context omitted.

There is virtually no dead end corner that the OP can paint him/herself into. They could pick literally any language or approach, platform or format, and create a successful business from it. The risks come from not being able to _easily_ make changes, but those risks are mitigated by the choices you make in developing the software, at an architecture level, using proper design and weighing out the realistic possibil…

The risks come from not being able to _easily_ make changes In my experience, this is pretty much the same thing as being unable to change your mind.

If you are a developer and good at what you do, you will layer your application to buffer against changes. If you aren't then just write the code the best you know how because building a business AND learning how to be a good coder at the same time is not the most efficient path. That path is littered with constantly rewritten, half-finished, failures.

Get a product out and then figure out where you could have done better.

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