The term "free software" is used rather ambiguously in the article. The free software that is referred to in the article is free as in beer. The more commonly used meaning of the word (among hackers) implies free as in freedom. If you want to learn more refer here https://www.gnu.org/philosophy/free-sw.en.html
Don't Be a Free User (2011)
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Re: Don't Be a Free User (2011)
#22This is why web services should be open source and available for self hosting: - The geeks with the know-how to run a Web server benefit from your product for free, but in exchange you get bug reports, patches, etc. - Everyone else pays, because you also offer a paid hosting option. But because the product is fundamentally open source and federated, it can and hopefully will outlive its original developer.
My experience running a project/company like you describe:
1) Not the geeks, but the big multinational companies with disposable developer time end up using your open-source solution. Exactly the types of users I don't feel sorry for and would rather extract money from.
2) The "payback" in the form of bug reports and patches is negligible, because nobody likes to do work if they're not being compensated (either through money, or, more commonly in the open-source world, fame)
3) The users of the hosted version don't want to pay anything because "it's open-source, after all".
4) People that do not have the necessary technical capabilities to host your software, but also don't like to pay, harass you on GitHub and other support channels because "your software doesn't work", and it "throws error messages".
The key advantage is that some people (journalists, bloggers) tend to present you in a more positive light if you describe yourself as an "open-source solution" rather than yet another commercial app.
Re: Don't Be a Free User (2011)
#23These arguments fall apart when you're living in a country with no access to online, international payment methods.
And I realize that you don't want to bother with people that are not currently potential customers, but I'm just saying that you're locking entire countries out.
Re: Don't Be a Free User (2011)
#24Re: Don't Be a Free User (2011)
#25Cool, you can pay and be screwed a second time when the company is sold anyways.
Re: Don't Be a Free User (2011)
#26I think this made sense in 2011, but now the trend of acquihires has gotten so out of hand that it hardly makes a difference; products making plenty of revenue are still being instantly shut down after being bought out.
Re: Don't Be a Free User (2011)
#27This is why web services should be open source and available for self hosting: - The geeks with the know-how to run a Web server benefit from your product for free, but in exchange you get bug reports, patches, etc. - Everyone else pays, because you also offer a paid hosting option. But because the product is fundamentally open source and federated, it can and hopefully will outlive its original developer.
My experience running a project/company like you describe: 1) Not the geeks, but the big multinational companies with disposable developer time end up using your open-source solution. Exactly the types of users I don't feel sorry for and would rather extract money from. 2) The "payback" in the form of bug reports and patches is negligible, because nobody likes to do work if they're not being compensated (either throu…
Open Core for the win.
You want to use the base functionalities? Be my guest.
You want Single Sign On through LDAP, AD, etc.? Commercial edition.
You want advanced user management and permissions, etc.? Commercial edition.
You want the product to work behind a NTLM proxy? Commercial edition.
You want to use your own domain name (if hosted)? Commercial edition.
There's a handful of requests that are sure-sign markers that someone is using the product in a corporate environment.
Of course, if the people asking for those features also provide a pull request that complies with the project's pull request guidelines, then in that case, things might change. Though it's quite rare that such a huge feature as AD integration is actually provided by a project outsider (especially one that also comes with good code coverage, respects project coding conventions, etc.).
Re: Don't Be a Free User (2011)
#28Unfortunately, it often seems that with too little money, a service disappears due to bankruptcy, with too much money a service disappears due to talent acquisition.
With software as an application, there was still the possibility to continue using software for years when a company shut down. Windows has terrific backwards compatibility and on UNIX you get far by keeping around old shared libraries and giving a hint to the dynamic loader.
With services, you are lucky to get a one-year heads up. Sometimes the service disappears in mere months. For this reason, I only give my money to services that are too big to fail (e.g. Dropbox & Office 365) or have an easy migration path (Fastmail). Other than that I refuse to buy anything but software where I actually own a copy.
Re: Don't Be a Free User (2011)
#29Cool, you can pay and be screwed a second time when the company is sold anyways.
It's some years later and pinboard shows no signs of slowing down, at least as far as I can tell. The guy who runs it makes a good living and he plans on keeping it going indefinitely.