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Living Room / Re: Don't be a free user?
« Last post by mouser on December 15, 2011, 10:10 PM »I didn't read the original article too closely -- but the lesson i take from all essays like this is all about sustainability..
As an author -- find an approach that you can sustain for the long haul, and be clear to users about your approach to sustainability. That is, if you are only going to work on something until you get bored -- tell your users this up front. If you are committed to long term development of your software, make sure you can do this without becoming homeless. If you are planning on releasing a free version until you get some users and then will switch into a commercial version, tell your users. If you haven't thought about the issues of how to sustain development of your free software, give it some thought.
And as a user -- think about the long term sustainability of the software you are using. If the author is not asking for financial support, and/or if you aren't willing to financially support it -- ask yourself if there is a risk the software will be abandoned and you will regret your choice of software or your decision not to financially contribute to the project.
When thinking about software, both authors and users should plan for the long term sustainability/maintainability of the software, and favor approaches that have healthy long term sustainability.
As an author -- find an approach that you can sustain for the long haul, and be clear to users about your approach to sustainability. That is, if you are only going to work on something until you get bored -- tell your users this up front. If you are committed to long term development of your software, make sure you can do this without becoming homeless. If you are planning on releasing a free version until you get some users and then will switch into a commercial version, tell your users. If you haven't thought about the issues of how to sustain development of your free software, give it some thought.
And as a user -- think about the long term sustainability of the software you are using. If the author is not asking for financial support, and/or if you aren't willing to financially support it -- ask yourself if there is a risk the software will be abandoned and you will regret your choice of software or your decision not to financially contribute to the project.
When thinking about software, both authors and users should plan for the long term sustainability/maintainability of the software, and favor approaches that have healthy long term sustainability.
