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We don't need startups, we need Digital-Mittelstand

mertbulan.com

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Re: We don't need startups, we need Digital-Mittelstand

#221

Post by jononor »

ben_w wrote: post #217
fsflover wrote: post #201

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Except Mastodon already exists.

So did the Nomad. Look, we know that the software to kill Facebook is indeed so simple that a couple of people could write it by themselves… because Facebook itself was written by Zuckerberg and four friends while at university . The "software" part of this is not hard. It's everything else that is hard.

Facebook in 2025 is not at all the same software as in 2005. Nor FB the business. The market is also forever changed. Not that this detracts from your main point. The tricky part is not the software.

Re: We don't need startups, we need Digital-Mittelstand

#222

Post by 7bit »

llm_trw wrote: post #29
7bit wrote: post #20

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I did, it was super easy.

How long did it take you from start to finish? In Australia, Canada and the US I can open a company in about 30 minutes from picking the name to opening a bank account I can get money into. In Germany the last time I tried it was about 7 weeks.

Tool me about 20 minutes

Re: We don't need startups, we need Digital-Mittelstand

#223

Post by 7bit »

mytailorisrich wrote: post #88
llm_trw wrote: post #29

Earlier quoted context omitted.

How long did it take you from start to finish? In Australia, Canada and the US I can open a company in about 30 minutes from picking the name to opening a bank account I can get money into. In Germany the last time I tried it was about 7 weeks.

There are also the capital requirements. I think that for a GmbH (the standard limited liability company) the requirement is EUR25,000. Here in the UK, where you can also setup a limited company online in 30 minutes (though not the bank account), and there is no minimum capital requirement though there must obviously be capital so usually the minimum is taken as £1. Cost of incorporating and running a company as also…

Uhm, risk? If you dont have 25 to start a company, then don't do a GmbH and you're good.

Re: We don't need startups, we need Digital-Mittelstand

#225

Post by mytailorisrich »

7bit wrote: post #223
mytailorisrich wrote: post #88

Earlier quoted context omitted.

There are also the capital requirements. I think that for a GmbH (the standard limited liability company) the requirement is EUR25,000. Here in the UK, where you can also setup a limited company online in 30 minutes (though not the bank account), and there is no minimum capital requirement though there must obviously be capital so usually the minimum is taken as £1. Cost of incorporating and running a company as also…

Uhm, risk? If you dont have 25 to start a company, then don't do a GmbH and you're good.

Why does the government care? People start companies for many reasons and capital amount is a matter for them. There are many small businesses that do not require 25k to start.

Ultimately the state should make it as cheap and straightforward as possible, get out of the way basically, and let people get on with it. It's difficult to find a reason to do differently

Re: We don't need startups, we need Digital-Mittelstand

#226

Post by citadel_melon »

milesrout wrote: post #133
impossiblefork wrote: post #126

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Yes, but what if the big-software type economy isn't actually that useful? Maybe you can grow it to 30% of GDP if you start doing a bunch of bad stuff, but if it can be replaced by open source local stuff-- if it's possible to simply kill facebook, Microsoft etc. and replace them with Linux together with a couple of not incredibly expensive software packages developed to provide a substitute, then why should we have…

Firstly, Linux isn't made for free by hobbyists. The biggest contributors are profitable, largely American tech companies. Intel, AMD, even Microsoft is now a contributor. Secondly, the idea that you can just replace the entire software industry with Linux is... Are there even words to describe this? Linux is just an operating system. You can't replace a whole industry with "a couple of cheap packages."

The US forcing all government agencies to use open source software would save taxpayers money. Additionally — in tandem with other countries following suit — the policy would create the incentive for governments to contribute to OS development, and thus, the OS community would not need to rely so heavily on industry for Linux development, dismantling your implication that OS software is contingent on big-tech’s existence.

Switzerland already has a policy that all government agencies need to use open source software so the policy I mention isn’t a pie-in-the-sky theoretical.

Re: We don't need startups, we need Digital-Mittelstand

#227

Post by camillomiller »

FirmwareBurner wrote: post #211
camillomiller wrote: post #210

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Because they have a team of employees that take care of new features, updates, maintenance and all put food on the table?

Other apps have teams that do the same things, with one-time purchases, like in my examples above. As a SW dev I can empathize with your PoV, but from the perspective of an end consumer, I don't care about the externalities of the manufacturer of the product, I only care about value for my money. When you need to buy a new t-shirt, do you go and buy the one from the manufacturer that feeds the most families or do you…

I buy my t-shirts from Colorful Standards. They are 39€ a pop, but they last longer and are produced sustainably in Portugal.

Re: We don't need startups, we need Digital-Mittelstand

#228

Post by pembrook »

lyu07282 wrote: post #187
abc123abc123 wrote: post #99

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Europe is dying. It is an old socialist relic, with a completely outdated model of reality. The successes of the extreme left and right shows that the political nobility are done. Sadly europe never realized that low taxes, capitalism and liberty is what drives wealth. I wonder if, in a generation, when the best brains moved to the US, asia and argentina, the continent will finally awake from its socialist slumber? H…

> Sadly europe never realized that low taxes, capitalism and liberty is what drives wealth. Honestly we have moved Europe so far past the post-political that I find it difficult to comprehend peoples politics nowadays. I wonder what people think "socialism" or "left" politics is now that everything has been so thoroughly depoliticized, I genuinely don't know. Is the EU "left"? I guess so? Is the IMF?

You can just look at the numbers. Percentage of GDP that is driven by government spending:

China: 33%

USA: 34%

Germany: 50%

Economically, modern Europe is more communist and exerts more centralized control than China. Might explain why the current class of European elites have presided over the greatest destruction of an industrial base since the Soviet Union.

Re: We don't need startups, we need Digital-Mittelstand

#229

Post by benhurmarcel »

keiferski wrote: post #59
fnands wrote: post #54

Earlier quoted context omitted.

It's a one time cost and not a subscription service? If so, amazing.

Correct: https://culturedcode.com/things/ Looks like the different apps (desktop, mobile, iPad) have different prices, but all are one-time payments of $10-$50. I bought it years ago and IIRC it was just $50 for everything then.

The drawback of this model is that now that Things 3 has been out for a long time, and you have no idea when Things 4 will come out, it makes new customers think twice before buying.
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