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What does it mean when I say "successful freeware"?
Paul Keith:
Free software has nothing intrinsically to do with open source software. Open source refers to the philosophy and practice of making source code available. Open source software may be licensed in a variety of ways including proprietary restricted. It can also be fully protected by patent or copyright. And just because source code might be available doesn't mean you can obtain a copy at no charge. There are several open source products that you need to buy in order to use in any capacity.
Repeat 10 times: open source is not a synonym for free.
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Oh sorry. I didn't mean it that way.
I was referring only to your post:
To my way of thinking, something that is truly freeware was created for no reason other than the satisfaction and pleasure of doing it; and was released for no other reason than the desire to get it out where it could be used.
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That's the definition of source code sharing right there. Also, that's not really the open source philosophy. More like the open source dogma/mantra/mandate.
The philosophy is more akin to your first sentence:
something that is truly freeware was created for no reason other than the satisfaction and pleasure of doing it
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i.e. the philosophy of gratis rather than just libre.
By "released" I meant exactly what the dictionary definition means by "release" when it's used as a verb. I'm not using the word in the software industry sense as a noun. Try not to read too much into it. If you'd prefer a different word, feel free to substitute.
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Yeah... sorry about that. My use of the word release only makes sense if we understood each other regarding open source.
It's not the wording that's the problem. It's the whole "release in open source" vs. "release as something people would use". Hope that makes more sense.
P.S. I also meant exactly how it's used in the dictionary when used as a verb - just more in the "let go" emphasis per the open source philosophy ;)
The second example (free for free but...) isn't freeware either. It's a business marketing strategy. As such it's really more an advert or come-on. The fact it incorporates a piece of software is wholly incidental since its real function is to be a sales tool which gets you to buy something. In this respect, it's no different than offering a "free" t-shirt or product sample.
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Err... not quite. Again going back to your statement:
was created for no reason other than the satisfaction and pleasure of doing it; and was released for no other reason than the desire to get it out where it could be used.
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Also even with free T-shirts. There's a difference between "Yehey! Celebrate: Free T-Shirts for everyone for special occassion" and merchandising which again falls under business marketing strategy.
But let's omit the word "business" and bring another elephant in the room question:
Can freeware be successful with no marketing strategy?
or let me rephrase for the lucky software developers:
Can freeware continue to be successful with no marketing strategy?
Remember everything from putting your open source project on sourceforge or posting changelogs to your blog can count as a marketing strategy.
And...I'm gonna have to leave it here for a while. Just got a server alert that needs attending. Let's call it for now and pick up on the rest of your points later. Apologies.
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Actually I'm busy too. No idea why I keep returning to DC in quick intervals but yeah, later.
Renegade:
I found that about 1 in 3,000 downloads results in a donation in the past.
Donations really only amount to beer money, if that, for most freeware developers anyways.
I'm currently working on a site that's going to have freeware, but I'm still messing around with how to monetize it. It's tough to balance some things.
Things I'm considering/doing:
* Ads - I've always hated ads, but...
* Donations - No brainer. If people will donate, let them. :)
* Subscriptions - Still hashing out how to do this right.
* Paid versions - Why not sell licenses?
* In-app ads - Not sure about this...
* Custom branding - Again, not sure about it or if there's a demand even.
* Hire us - Why not use the site to get other business?
* Toolbars - Everyone else has a bundled toolbar. Why not? Need to get downloads up to a fairly large number first though.
* Content sales - This is where there's a lot of money, but haven't figured out how to do it yet.
* CPU sharing - Not sure. Need to check into this more.
We'll see how things go. I'll clock it up as a success if it helps put food on the table and pay the bills. :P If it buys me a house, I'll clock it up as a super-success~! :D
Target:
Looks like this thread is in danger of veering off into another pointless discussion on the definition of freeware vs freeware, and/or the relative merits of marketing, or even philosophical meanderings on open source (though I'd be interested to find out how you build a business based on freeware).
With respect to the definition of success it seems there is only one that matters, and that's yours. At the end of the day it can be successful in any number of ways, but if they're not what you were hoping for then by your own measure it won't be successful.
That's not to say it was a failure either, just that you're expectations, whatever they were, weren't met (though you could change your expectations and be instantly successful ;D)
Personally I feel that the only true measure of success would be building a user base - unfortunately pure downloads are meaningless as there's no guarantee they're getting used (I have several gig of app's that I have downloaded but never gotten around to trying or using :-[). Trouble here is that unless you're newfound userbase is enthusiastic and vocal, you're unlikely to ever hear about it
Likewise I'd be wary of using blog posts as a measure - so many seem to be nothing more than a rehash of someone else's post (of someone else's post, of someones else's post...) and are no guarantee of generating traffic, let alone 'success'.
I can't comment on the relative worth of 'marketing strategies' but it's clearly in your best interest to post about it somewhere that it's likely to get some credible exposure. Having said that I'm firmly of the belief that word of mouth is the best advertising you can get, though getting this rolling without spamming people can be difficult :o.
Paul Keith:
though I'd be interested to find out how you build a business based on freeware
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Through marketing but hey, it's just my own silly idea and I have no way of proving it one way or another. :P
With respect to the definition of success it seems there is only one that matters, and that's yours. At the end of the day it can be successful in any number of ways, but if they're not what you were hoping for then by your own measure it won't be successful.
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That's very Zen-like but I think ambitious materialistic users (and programmers) far outweigh Lao Tzu followers in tech forums. :-[
I can't comment on the relative worth of 'marketing strategies' but it's clearly in your best interest to post about it somewhere that it's likely to get some credible exposure. Having said that I'm firmly of the belief that word of mouth is the best advertising you can get, though getting this rolling without spamming people can be difficult
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Well, that's the relative worth of marketing strategy. The smart developer who wants to sell their freeware as a business would definitely try contacting the major blogs and getting them to know your software.
Technically it's not spamming if you get other people to spam your software. It's not going to convert into dollar signs though but methinks if you don't end up with a community. Same problem with word of mouth. More mouths saying the Word and the Word becomes jumbled until the only word that's being spread is the Word of the freeware, not the necessity to donate. (See Christianity where it makes more sense to donate to the Pope than to feed the poor by convincing the Pope to sell the Vatican/rip-off from a joke made by Sarah Silverman)
mouser:
I start getting nervous whenever I start hearing people talk about freeware-as-marketing strategy, and "monetizing" freeware..
Most freeware and open source software is created and released because, first and foremost, the programmers want to share what they have created with others, and enjoy the act of sharing. We need to remember that.
If you're not writing free software in order to make money.. well then all you have to do is provide some happiness to one person with your software and it has been a "success" worth celebrating.
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