Special User Sections > Site/Forum Features
Revisiting the idea of simplifying the DC big app license key stuff
mouser:
This may be asking for trouble, but I thought it might be time to start a new thread to talk about the license key stuff on DC and whether there are things that can be done better.
To revisit the current situation:
* Some of the software on DC is just normal freeware, no limits, no nags, etc.
* Some of the other software on DC (mostly my big apps) will start to nag you on run to put in a license key. You can get a license key in a number of ways: You can get a 30day license key immediately from site with no signup. You can signup on forum for a 6month license key which you can return visit for another one at any time and after a year you get permanent one, or you can donate any amount to get a permanent license key. The motivation behind this is 1) to get people to give some thought to donating, and 2) not make it so much easier and so much less work, and thus so much more appealing to not donate.
The benefits of this approach seem to be a substantial number of increased donations from people who can afford to donate and would rather donate then have to sign up or go through the "hassle" of coming back in 6 months for a new license key, etc. The increase in donations when we made this change were significant but I don't have any real hard numbers to go by. Encourages more people to sign up on the forum and thereafter participate in our discussions.
The problems with this approach are: Increased complexity in explaining the way our site works, which turns off people and confuses them into just leaving; confusion on other websites about the nature of our software (is it really free? etc.).
Possible changes:
* Do away with license key system entirely, go back to just asking for pure voluntary donations; this should lead to happier users but could reduce donation substantially. As tempting as this is we have to remember that without *some* kind of incentive to donate, people as a rule aren't willing to go through the hassle.
* Simplify license key system: Allow anyone to get a N-month license key immediately on site without signing up. Donations required for permanent license key; do away with need to sign up and 6month renewal turning into permanent license key; This would be simpler to explain and use, and doing away with signup encouragement for non-donors would be welcome by many.
* Remove the need for license key but allow donors to download newer versions of programs; Idea here would be that donors would get the latest versions of the programs ahead of non-donors; the versions available to non-donors would always be N months behind latest release; This has an advantage of being simple to explain and offering a real benefit to donors, while still offering fully free versions to everyone and no need for free users to deal with license keys; Another advantage is the incentive is on us to keep improving our software.
* Have a page where anyone can download a full license key, and must simply state that they have considered and will consider in the future, the idea of donating to the site, but not require anything; at least this would let us have an opportunity to ask them to consider donating.
* Leave everything the way it is.
* Other ideas?
Thoughts?
Josh:
* Do away with license key system entirely, go back to just asking for pure voluntary donations; this should lead to happier users but could reduce donation substantially.
* Simplify license key system: Allow anyone to get a N-month license key immediately on site without signing up. Donations required for permanent license key; do away with need to sign up and 6month renewal turning into permanent license key; This would be simpler to explain and use, and doing away with signup encouragement for non-donors would be welcome by many.
* Remove the need for license key but allow donors to download newer versions of programs; Idea here would be that donors would get the latest versions of the programs ahead of non-donors; the versions available to non-donors would always be N months behind latest release; This has an advantage of being simple to explain and offering a real benefit to donors, while still offering fully free versions to everyone and no need for free users to deal with license keys; Another advantage is the incentive is on us to keep improving our software.
* Have a page where anyone can download a full license key, and must simply state that they have considered and will consider in the future, the idea of donating to the site, but not require anything; at least this would let us have an opportunity to ask them to consider donating.
* Leave everything the way it is.Other ideas?
--- End quote ---
* 1st idea: Like you said, this is definitely an option but will drop revenue of the site. I would hate to see advertisements on my beloved doco :)
* 2nd idea: Good idea, probably the best of the bunch. I think you could combine 2 and 3 and find the perfect system. The idea here is that the person gets immediate access to the newest versions on DoCo with the temp license without requiring sign-up. After that period, however, any subsequent licenses would result in "delayed" access to future versions until a sign up is done.
* 3rd idea: See above. Combined with 2, I think it could be a winning option.
* 4th idea: This could be a "sign up" form in which they enter basic info: Name, Email and receive a key right then and there. They are not put on any mailing lists, etc. But do receive a key. You would have to make sure and annotate that they will not receive emails unless they opt in (good idea for a field on the form.
* 5th idea: NO, see above.
fenixproductions:
Maybe:
- world - 2 months valid public key,
- members - 6 months key,
- donations - full time licence.
Of course, mileage can vary (depending on opinions).
And it may be nice idea to make licensing system work for DC developers via special DLL file.
superboyac:
Here's an idea that I think most of you will think is crazy, but I think it is a AWESOME idea:
I like this forum. I think we have a lot of talent here, and the talent is special because most of the people are very nice, polite and helpful to one another. We've tried doing things like donations and stuff, and it is always a nice idea, but like mouser said, the donations eventually evolve into something else other than people actually using the money to buy things. Since the amounts are so small, they don't have puchasing power, so they just serve as a "Thank you" to people here and there. And that is nice, but how about this idea (sorry for building up to it like this)
What if we use whatever money the community has here to start generating a small DonationCoder economy with employees and everything? Why don't we start a cool DoCo app store? The software written here is pretty good, why not charge $5 for people to get a license and make it truly free stuff. And we'd have great customer service also. Look, I asked skwire to write the List Numberer program, which he did in like a day. And it's great. But why not charge a buck or two for it? It's nothing, but at least people will come and just give a little bit to say thanks. But it's not freeware, so at least there could be something self-sustaining about it.
And you could make it a deal in a fair way also. Some money should go to the site and some should go to the authors. But it has to be fair. it can't be a salary, because shareware just doesn't sell well enough to have a salary. It should be a percentage PER license sold. So if skwire sold his program for $2, maybe one dollar goes to DC, and he keeps the other dollar. Then we just let the sales do the talking. If you want to make more money, write something that more people would want to use. We don't have to pay $1000 up front to make a program that only 100 people will buy.
It will justify some of the more difficult requests being made. stuff that is too hard and complicated to consider a one-hour coding snack. Well, charge $5 or $10 for it then. And keep in mind the discussion we had on the other thread about what people are willing to pay for, etc.
But the thing we'd really be able to hang our hat on is the customer service. Where else can people go and ASK people to make a software for a specific problem? And someone will actually do it?! It's very unique. You can't go to the Nero developers and say, "could you make something for this and that?" No way. So why not monetize it a little bit. Maybe somebody here can make a career out of it. Wouldn't that be nice? It would motivate people to do bigger and more challenging projects. The community here is already well respected int he software community, so why not? Let's do this guys. I know a lot of you really want to give things away for free because it's the right thing to do...but it's hard work, I know it is. People don't mind paying for it when they are getting good software, AND they are getting great customer service. Their questions are answered. bugs are fixed instantly. brand new software requests are accepted and new software is made within days/weeks...that right there would distinguish this place from just about every other "store". Even the app store has no ability to fulfill requests like that.
Why should we wait for other developers to fix their bugs and holes? You don't like their stuff, let's make our own and make it better in every way.
I'm not a programmer, but I would love to help in creating a practical business plan that would hopefully work well for all parties. There are so many things that can be done. I'd love if you guys wanted to do this.
mouser:
DC has always been very supportive of anyone in its ranks making a go of selling software.
But I think there is something special about the free software community, and although DC may have a strange place in that community, i think part of our specialness and part of the fun we have is because of our commitment to it. I don't think we want to lose that. DC is *not* a proper business. Our goal is not to maximize profits. DC is not a full time job for anyone. I think it would be a mistake to try to change that.
That's not to say that individual members shouldn't feel supported if they try to go that route -- there is nothing dishonorable about selling software. But as a site I don't think it should be our focus.
That's not to say there aren't ways for us to do things differently, just that i think we need to be true to ourselves and what makes us a special place.
Navigation
[0] Message Index
[#] Next page
Go to full version