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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?

#151

Post by stephenr »

pnathan wrote: post #99

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.

> I would suggest a desktop app on the JVM

Is this a joke? Or possibly a comment somehow posted from 8 years ago?

Unless you're doing what Jetbrains do (and ship an embedded JRE) relying on Java is adding a barrier to entry on top of "wtf, java? it's 2016 not 1999".

In my career i've had reason to use a small handful of jvm desktop applications. In every case, it was because there is no good alternative, and they were used in spite of being jvm based - if a non-jvm alternative comes along, it gets an instant boost in any comparison, because it isn't tied to the jvm.

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

#152

Post by lkiernan »

rgovind wrote: post #121
gambiting wrote: post #113

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Just to keep your expectations in check - I work for a major games company in the UK as a C++ programmer and make 25k pounds/year($36k USD). US salaries are an abnormality.

$35K is what a decent developer in India would make. So, your UK seems too low.

GDP per capita in India is $1,498.87 though

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

#154

Post by kidproquo »

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 cool. Subscribed. Waiting for a decent alternative to FAR Manager.

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

#155

Post by gambiting »

arisAlexis wrote: post #145
gambiting wrote: post #113

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Just to keep your expectations in check - I work for a major games company in the UK as a C++ programmer and make 25k pounds/year($36k USD). US salaries are an abnormality.

As a web developer I frequently get offers for 50k+ in UK you are seriously underpaid

I only see 50k+ offers in London though, and I have no intentions of moving to London. I also don't think it's entirely fair to be comparing web developers to C++, I would say I'm an advanced C++ programmer but I would need to learn how to do web development from scratch, it's not like I can pick up a web development job and just get on with it.

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

#156

Post by jventura »

hermitcrab wrote: post #136

I have been making a good living selling desktop software as a solo developer for the last 11 years. I think reports of the death of desktop software are exaggerated: https://successfulsoftware.net/2013/10/28/is-desktop-softwar...

Thanks for replying! Your blog was one of the "triggers" that made me decided to ask if more people have been having success with the solo developer/desktop developer strategy.

I just wish more people shared their experiences on their blogs, because here where I live it is pretty hard to find someone working for themselves..

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

#157

Post by heisnotanalien »

gambiting wrote: post #113
bdavisx wrote: post #69

Earlier quoted context omitted.

When you say "make a living" - how does that compare to a "typical" US developer salary/benefits - say around $120K total compensation? (and yes, I know that's far below a SV total compensation, but you wouldn't have to live in SV for this kind of lifestyle business).

Just to keep your expectations in check - I work for a major games company in the UK as a C++ programmer and make 25k pounds/year($36k USD). US salaries are an abnormality.

My first job when I graduated outside of London was 30k. You are seriously underpaid.

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

#158

Post by MarkMc »

stephenr wrote: post #151
pnathan wrote: post #99

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.

> I would suggest a desktop app on the JVM Is this a joke? Or possibly a comment somehow posted from 8 years ago? Unless you're doing what Jetbrains do (and ship an embedded JRE) relying on Java is adding a barrier to entry on top of "wtf, java? it's 2016 not 1999". In my career i've had reason to use a small handful of jvm desktop applications. In every case, it was because there is no good alternative, and they wer…

Yeah desktop Java gained a bad reputation because of a bloated JVM and poorly-designed Swing interface.

However, if you ship your own JVM and use SWT instead of Swing, most of the problems with using Java on the desktop go away.

stephenr - maybe the reason you've only seen crappy Java desktop applications is because you didn't recognise the good ones as Java? For example, here are screenshots of my Java desktop accounting application I've been developing for 9 years:

Mac: http://www.solaraccounts.co.uk/images/screenshots/invoices_m...

Windows: http://www.solaraccounts.co.uk/images/screenshots/invoices.j...

Java with SWT uses native widgets and makes it easy to call platform-specific UI code, so the result can be almost identical to a native application.

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

#159

Post by ElCapitanMarkla »

DizzyDoo wrote: post #23

I'm making video games for PC, Mac and Linux (like this one - http://store.steampowered.com/app/386900 ), it's a very traditional release cycle, I work on a project for x months, and then I release it, moving onto the next game after a few weeks of post-launch support. PC games are generally seen as more valuable than mobile games, so I don't need to sell a terribly large volume in order for me, a single developer, t…

Oh wow you're The Cat Machine guy, nice game :D

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

#160

Post by spdustin »

mattront wrote: post #60

Our desktop app Pinegrow Web Editor ( http://pinegrow.com ) is build with HTML / JS / Node.js packaged with NWJS/Electron. Three years ago I started by myself, now we're three working on the app full time and making a comfortable living (mid six figures in yearly sales). Choosing this tech stack lets you postpone web vs desktop app decision and keep both options open. While recurring web app revenue sounds appealing…

Holy shit, that's a nice app. I have many (adult) students who would greatly benefit from its simplicity, any way to get a discount/promo code for them? You can reach me at my username @ gmail.com. Edit: this isn't a strictly "educational" setup - these are corporate students, not academic.
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