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Don't be a free user?

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mouser:
This thought provoking essay addresses some important concepts that may be of interest to DonationCoder readers.

I think the key message here is sustainability -- charting a path that is sustainable.  And that's something we have always been very big on here.  We try to avoid embarking on projects that we can't sustain, and don't bite off more than we can chew.

These projects are all very different, but the dynamic is the same. Someone builds a cool, free product, it gets popular, and that popularity attracts a buyer. The new owner shuts the product down and the founders issue a glowing press release about how excited they are about synergies going forward. They are never heard from again.

Whether or not this is done in good faith, in practice this kind of 'exit event' is a pump-and-dump scheme. The very popularity that attracts a buyer also makes the project financially unsustainable. The owners cash out, the acquirer gets some good engineers, and the users get screwed.

To avoid this problem, avoid mom-and-pop projects that don't take your money! You might call this the anti-free-software movement.

If every additional user is putting money in the developers' pockets, then you're less likely to see the site disappear overnight. If every new user is costing the developers money, and the site is really taking off, then get ready to read about those synergies.

To illustrate, I have prepared this handy chart:

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http://blog.pinboard.in/2011/12/don_t_be_a_free_user/

nosh:
To avoid this problem, avoid mom-and-pop projects that don't take your money! You might call this the anti-free-software movement.

--- End quote ---

I had to check my calendar to make sure it wasn't the 1st of April.

Ehtyar:
To avoid this problem, avoid mom-and-pop projects that don't take your money!
--- End quote ---
Or get your sh!t out of the "cloud", and stick to Free Software that you contribute to.

Ehtyar.

Stoic Joker:
Agreed. I hate clouds ... or the cloud, or rain too for that matter.

(This post was longer...and I suspect a bit too honest ... Yes, I've been drinking. :))

Renegade:
+1 for that blog post.

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