Ask HN: What software do you actually pay for? • Hacker News Board

Re: Ask HN: What software do you actually pay for?

#21

Post by superasn » Sat, Jan 19, 2019, 3:58 AM UTC

Something1234 wrote: post #15

I pay for pushbullet, so I can text from my computer and get notifications mirrored to my laptop.

I use whatsapp web for that. Just created a group with only myself (add 2 people and remove one after) and pinned it on whatsapp.

Now I can easily send files, notifications, etc from phone to laptop and vice versa. Plus it has an advantage that I get google drive backup of everything done everyday!

Re: Ask HN: What software do you actually pay for?

#22

Post by slap_shot » Sat, Jan 19, 2019, 4:01 AM UTC

stevenaleach wrote: post #20

slap_shot wrote: post #17

Earlier quoted context omitted.

You find paying for software to be unusual? How can that be?

Having not run DOS/Windows since 1995 I haven't needed to. I can't imagine dealing with an OS without the kind of enormous and comprehensive software repository of Debian or pretty much any distro.

Right, but there’s a massive global economy of trillions dollars of software being bought every year. The people that run this site invest in companies that sell software. I just can’t comprehend how you wonder if buying software “is still a thing.”

Re: Ask HN: What software do you actually pay for?

#23

Post by quickthrower2 » Sat, Jan 19, 2019, 4:23 AM UTC

Last thing I purchased for myself was probably the RubyMine by Jet Brains.

At work we use loads of SaaSy things: Azure, Pingdom, BrowserStack, Segment, Office 365, AWS, Zendesk, JIRA, etc. etc.

Re: Ask HN: What software do you actually pay for?

#24

Post by perishabledave » Sat, Jan 19, 2019, 5:16 AM UTC

Aside from a few things that were already mentioned here, I just started paying for sr.ht from sircmpwn. I’m a bit weary to completely replace my Github account since it’s in alpha but otherwise it’s been a great service.

Re: Ask HN: What software do you actually pay for?

#25

Post by philipkiely » Sat, Jan 19, 2019, 5:25 AM UTC

Backblaze

Omnifocus

Keyboard Maestro

Quiver

Quickbooks

Re: Ask HN: What software do you actually pay for?

#26

Post by [deleted] » Sat, Jan 19, 2019, 5:59 AM UTC

aespinoza wrote: post #4

On the top of my head I personally pay for: - Jetbrains All Pack - LittleSnitch - Git Tower - iStats - VMWare Fusion - Beyond Compare - Office 365

[deleted]

Re: Ask HN: What software do you actually pay for?

#27

Post by jrowley » Sat, Jan 19, 2019, 6:01 AM UTC

TablePlus. Amazing Postgres gui for those of us humble beings who haven’t mastered the art of psql yet.

Re: Ask HN: What software do you actually pay for?

#28

Post by zzo38computer » Sat, Jan 19, 2019, 6:11 AM UTC

I don't need to pay. If FOSS doesn't exist for what I need, I may try to write it by myself.

Re: Ask HN: What software do you actually pay for?

#29

Post by O1111OOO » Sat, Jan 19, 2019, 6:41 AM UTC

One of the first pieces of software I paid for was 4DOS[0] - such a joy to use and so empowering. No other command-line experience has ever come close (preps lightsaber..;-) Of course, this was a long time ago.

There was also Photodex's ProShow Gold[1] - imho, the photoshop of photo2video software. Powerful yet so easy to use (after a day of testing). I bought it because I found that this type of creative work helps me relax, etc... Lots of similar software (I about tried them all over the years) but nothing came close. Worth every penny. Not WINE-friendly (I found after transitioning):-(

Company issued but honorable mention: Azure RP[2] for prototyping, wireframing and planning. This was years ago but I never worked with a piece of software that was able to communicate so much, so quickly to everyone involved in a project. Very powerful at the time. Many competitors in this space today. fyi: Have not touch it in many years - it may be completely different now...

These three really stand out, though I have purchased some others over the years. All three are part of the creative process and produce something at the end (script, video, a prototype) - all of which I find engages me.

In the end (personally) it's about how much software will enrich you. There's also a limit on how much I'm willing to spend (usually under $100).

[0] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/4DOS

[1] https://www.photodex.com/proshow/gold

[2] https://www.axure.com/

Re: Ask HN: What software do you actually pay for?

#30

Post by stephenr » Sat, Jan 19, 2019, 6:46 AM UTC

As far as "work" is concerned, there's only really two 'ongoing' software costs for me:

- IDE (IntelliJ IDEA Ultimate) [Yearly Subscription] - HyperVisor (Parallels, VMWare Fusion+Vagrant VMWare plugin) [Yearly Subscription; Per-Version purchase respectively]

However I still use a couple of apps that I paid for once and continue to use:

- Time tracking/Invoicing (Billings Pro, soon to be replaced as they don't support their self-host server any more) - Diff (Kaleidoscope) - Diagrams/Wireframes (OmniGraffle - haven't actually upgraded to a version that supports Mojave yet though) - 'Office' suite (Pages/Numbers)