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Your app subscription is now my weekend project

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Re: Your app subscription is now my weekend project

#271

Post by TheChelsUK »

gf000 wrote: post #239
almostlikemagic wrote: post #164

Earlier quoted context omitted.

how do you feel about licensing where you pay once, get the software, and have access to updates for one year? if you want future updates, you pay for another year of updates (discounted, of course, for loyalty). or is it more compelling to just have one clean, flat, lifetime rate?

I think the best way is you buy a software, and that version is supported "forever". The developer then creates version n+1. The old version is kept supported, but new features go only into the new version, which you can optionally buy again.

Workingcopy app is a better model.

You can pay to unlock advanced features and keep them and any new features added in a year, after that any new features are paywalled for another unlock, and another +12 months, perpetually.

Re: Your app subscription is now my weekend project

#272

Post by Illniyar »

rhubarbtree wrote: post #233

You too can implement a slither of the features you need right now in an insecure form without hosting, support, maintenance or future development. This reminds me of the people who think they can build docsend in a weekend. No, you cannot. You can build a wee throwaway app with some of the features of docsend. But that is not equivalent to what people pay docsend for. Businesses and SaaS aren’t just a bunch of stati…

There is probably a huge chunk of people who only need a slither of the features of a SaaS but are paying for everything they don't need.

If your particular use of a SaaS is not susceptible to security issues (for example you can use it on your local laptop) then a slither of features that are insecure is exactly the thing for you.

Not everyone is going to replace SaaS with half-baked personal implementations, especially the big companies that most SaaS are aimed at, but it will gnaw out some of the long tail of SaaS subscription revenue for sure.

Re: Your app subscription is now my weekend project

#273

Post by KronisLV »

gf000 wrote: post #238
heavyset_go wrote: post #221

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Another way to look at this is that you're giving away all of your source code as context, and probably a lot of things you don't necessarily want to share, if you aren't using self-hosted models. Especially with agents that slurp up files, have access to databases, etc. You're literally giving access to your computer, your network and your data to third parties and letting them run code.

During development you don't use prod data, though. So I don't see much problem here, even if I'm developing something where I would store sensitive data later. (If there is a bug though which I would want to debug and if I were not a developer, then your concerns are more valid)

> During development you don't use prod data, though.

I’ve seen projects where testing is done in prod and also projects where API keys for some external services (e.g. Mapbox) are shared across prod and dev. Or cases where credentials end up in Git repos (edit: wrote GitHub originally, but meant typically non-public repos on any platform) due to ease of use and how inadequate secret management solutions can be.

Luckily that’s not the majority of projects, but I bet it happens a lot more elsewhere. Definitely a bunch for your average outsourced/freelance/scrappy/non-funded project.

Whether anyone will actually use your secrets or even code that’s sent to these large AI shops, though, that’s another question. You might as well question using GitHub cause it’s owned by M$.

Re: Your app subscription is now my weekend project

#274

Post by alt187 »

prmoustache wrote: post #220
alt187 wrote: post #193

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> Linux is free, but you pay for it with your time. People like to repeat this thought terminating cliché because they think it makes them sound smart and insightful, to doubt that a free thing is really free. But it's an uniquely naive opinion. On Windows or MacOS, it's more often than not that, when you meet a problem, the only thing you can do is throw your hands into the air, and suffer the problem. This is payin…

The days of compiling kernel module to have your adsl modem working or copy/pasting modelines in an xfree86config files have been over for well over 15 years anyway. You don't fiddle more in Linux than you do in MacOs or Windows nowadays and that screen recorder tool he had to spend time vibecoding is embedded in the desktop already, the rest of the apps are 2 clicks away from being installed.

Exactly. But it is hilarious that, in the only OS where investing your time in learning something that will almost always be useful in other ways (as opposed to spending your time submitting to a quagmire of bugs), this is described as a "spending".

Re: Your app subscription is now my weekend project

#275

Post by charlie0simmon »

As an indie developer myself, I totally get both sides. Building your own tools gives you full control and no recurring costs, but maintaining them takes time too. I've found the sweet spot is building tools for problems I face daily - the time investment pays off because I use them constantly.

Re: Your app subscription is now my weekend project

#276

Post by sevenseacat »

rhubarbtree wrote: post #233

You too can implement a slither of the features you need right now in an insecure form without hosting, support, maintenance or future development. This reminds me of the people who think they can build docsend in a weekend. No, you cannot. You can build a wee throwaway app with some of the features of docsend. But that is not equivalent to what people pay docsend for. Businesses and SaaS aren’t just a bunch of stati…

Reminds me of a guy I know who wants to vibe code all his company tools, his latest target was Ashby

Re: Your app subscription is now my weekend project

#279

Post by sevenseacat »

kylecazar wrote: post #2

Yeah. Part of why this is possible is simply that there are tons of subscription apps out there that were never really justified in requiring a recurring payment and are actually fairly trivial. It used to be that you offer subscriptions only if there are ongoing costs, and a one-time payment if not (utilities, local, etc). SaaS kinda ruined that. I'd welcome a boom in DIY vibe-coded utilities for personal use.

Most users expect everything to be cloud these days. In the cross-stitching community (which is mostly older non-technical folk), the amount of people that get mad every day because the most popular app is local-only, is phenomenal. What do you MEAN they smashed their device, bought a new one, and all their WIP projects aren't there anymore?
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