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Show HN: I completed shipping my desktop app

pimosa.app

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Re: Show HN: I completed shipping my desktop app

#161

Post by scarface_74 »

bennythomsson wrote: post #147
lagrange77 wrote: post #137

Earlier quoted context omitted.

While i'm with you in principle, over the years i've learned that we should not talk down good UI/UX, if that's what the wrapper adds. It's a crucial component to the value of a piece of software for the end user.

He actually himself writes that he doesn't want to spend too much time on his apps: > now i have lession that i shouldnt build apps that consumes so much time. Sounds like somebody really devoted to the perfect UI experience. Look, I don't want to talk down this kid. Everybody starts somewhere and I like the enthusiasm. But him expecting to make $30 off everybody for plumbing together a bunch of FOSS libs is rubbing…

Yes just like instead of Dropbox for a Linux user, you can already build such a system yourself quite trivially by getting an FTP account, mounting it locally with curlftpfs, and then using SVN or CVS on the mounted filesystem. From Windows or Mac, this FTP account could be accessed through built-in software.

Re: Show HN: I completed shipping my desktop app

#163

Post by scarface_74 »

zac23or wrote: post #160

AWS can make billions from open source. On the other hand, solo developers who try the same path are basically seen as scammers. Ironic. And creating a good user interface is very, very hard. Otherwise Gimp wouldn't be the monstrosity it is.

AWS makes billions from managing servers at scale.

Re: Show HN: I completed shipping my desktop app

#165

Post by wongarsu »

kryptocannon wrote: post #157
rubymamis wrote: post #134

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The problem with distributing standalone installers on Windows is that all non-popular apps are immediately regarded as malware by Windows Defender unless you go through the horrendous process of signing your app, which requires obtaining a certificate (which also requires forming a company that is not an LLC) and waiting more than a month while navigating multiple rounds of bureaucracy. I’ve done it for my app, and…

> which also requires forming a company that is not an LLC I always thought that an LLC was sufficient, what's the actual requirement if an LLC is not enough?

We got a certificate with a company that's the local equivalent of an LLC, and have seen certificates issued to private individuals. As far as I can tell it's up to the issuer who they support in their verification process. Many of them are pretty inflexible with somewhat arcane processes designed decades ago (with ancient websites portals to match), so your experience may vary

An additional detail is that there are two levels of code signing certificates, normal and EV (extended validation) certificate. EV certificates make windows completely drop the low-reputation screen and causes many antivirus solutions to trust you but are expensive and are a bit of a pain to get. Normal certificates are cheaper and comparatively easier to acquire, but only give partial benefits (less scary screen from Windows, some leeway from antivirus).

Re: Show HN: I completed shipping my desktop app

#166

Post by dbalatero »

scarface_74 wrote: post #163
zac23or wrote: post #160

AWS can make billions from open source. On the other hand, solo developers who try the same path are basically seen as scammers. Ironic. And creating a good user interface is very, very hard. Otherwise Gimp wouldn't be the monstrosity it is.

AWS makes billions from managing servers at scale.

Come on, that's not all they do. They also resell open source as better-UXified tooling. RDS is "just" repackaged postgres/redis/etc with a more convenient dont-have-to-peek-under-the-hood as much dev experience.

Re: Show HN: I completed shipping my desktop app

#167

Post by kiritanpo »

newusertoday wrote: post #59
levkk wrote: post #47

Earlier quoted context omitted.

It does not require that you do that. It only requires you to open source any modifications you've made to ffmpeg.

it is slightly more nuanced, if you do static linking it is considered derivative work and does requires you to open it. Since the app is based on ffmpeg which is GPL(core is LGPL) i am curious to know how it is getting used.

Static linking of LGPL content (thus making it derivative work) only requires that it must allow "modification of the work for the customer's own use and reverse engineering for debugging such modifications".

Making your own code public is not the only way to achieve this.

You can also make available to customer object files and build instructions to recreate your software with the (modified) statically linked LGPL content. (if it's LGPL > 2.1 you have extra requirements: you need to provide all toolchains/dependencies and it must be actually possible to install a modified version on the hardware)

Granted, this is not commonly used but I've used this on some projects where dynamic linking was not available/desired by client.

Re: Show HN: I completed shipping my desktop app

#168

Post by spacechild1 »

eps wrote: post #127

While you are not too far into selling - a word of advice. Switch to offering a year of free updates and charge a small fee after that. Trust me. You will coverge to this scheme sooner or later, so do it now. - Standalone Windows installer is a must. Windows Store is still a deserted wasteland and is not a default choice for the vast majority of Windows users. You are losing a ton of users over this. - ffmpeg and oth…

> Standalone Windows installer is a must.

100% agree! I've been using Windows for over 20 years and I haven't installed a single app through Windows Store.

Re: Show HN: I completed shipping my desktop app

#169

Post by scarface_74 »

dbalatero wrote: post #166
scarface_74 wrote: post #163

Earlier quoted context omitted.

AWS makes billions from managing servers at scale.

Come on, that's not all they do. They also resell open source as better-UXified tooling. RDS is "just" repackaged postgres/redis/etc with a more convenient dont-have-to-peek-under-the-hood as much dev experience.

That “just” is doing a lot of heavy lifting and dismissing the entire server maintenance and HA across multiple regions is kind of strange

But Aurora is not “just” a repackaged MySQL, the entire storage layer was rewritten.

Re: Show HN: I completed shipping my desktop app

#170

Post by imachine1980_ »

scarface_74 wrote: post #161
bennythomsson wrote: post #147

Earlier quoted context omitted.

He actually himself writes that he doesn't want to spend too much time on his apps: > now i have lession that i shouldnt build apps that consumes so much time. Sounds like somebody really devoted to the perfect UI experience. Look, I don't want to talk down this kid. Everybody starts somewhere and I like the enthusiasm. But him expecting to make $30 off everybody for plumbing together a bunch of FOSS libs is rubbing…

Yes just like instead of Dropbox for a Linux user, you can already build such a system yourself quite trivially by getting an FTP account, mounting it locally with curlftpfs, and then using SVN or CVS on the mounted filesystem. From Windows or Mac, this FTP account could be accessed through built-in software.

I don't check the project deeply yet so I don't comment about it.

That's not true Dropbox was in the technical edge when it came, and old time ago, was barely possible, and the recurrent cost of the severs and operation cost is clearly not the same. And pay Foss GUIs are sad state of reality

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