On 2014-10-07 11:08, Peter Stuge wrote:
[email protected] wrote:
as a single person I am not in a position to charge large amounts of money
This has nothing to do with SDR but: Why not?
If your software has amazing value then you can and should charge
amazing amounts of money.
If someone comes along and offers up some competition then you will
have to decide what to do about that of course.
But I think the economics apply the same whether you are large or
small. Both have advantages and disadvantages. It's impossible for
the small to make and fulfill on a 24/7 commitment, as a simple
example. But on the other hand it is impossible for the large to be
as quick and flexible as the small. Work with what you've got,
instead of against what you haven't. :)
When they can compete with me with my own software I rather object to it.
So I only develop what I want. Some slight efforts I share. Other efforts are
sitting around here doing things I need, others might need but won't get, and
earning money by selling proprietary software that never touched GPL "stuff".
So I have to develop software for free
No you don't. If you choose to then all the better, and kudos to you
for making the world better! But you don't have to.
Who is going to pay me beyond the first person? After that or maybe after the
third person it's spread world wide by the pirates and sales stop. Been there.
Done that. NEVER AGAIN. You want it? You pay for it. You don't get source code.
And you get a license dongle. That has worked a little better.
I guess I also don't like developing free software because people have the
temerity to demand, not ask politely but demand, new features their way for
free. If I don't need it - I ain't gonna do it for free. I gotta eat. At least
now I get SOME help from Social Security. Working for pay means I get to eat out
a few more times each month.
And you certainly don't have to provide any support. That is really
explicit in the license.
If I give away the software how do I eat if I don't do for pay support? Think it
through.
Of course people want you to work for free and do their job so that
they can feed their own faces without having to make an effort. If
they ask and you do then they win. If they ask and you don't then you
are only fulfilling on what you agreed to in the license (ie. nothing!).
People really need to learn to deal with that aspect of open source.
I could deal with it if I had some benefactor paying me for sitting on my duff
developing software to give away for free. The only benefactors I have run
across want me to develop malware. Sadly I grew up at a time when ethics and
morality mattered more than they do today. And it's hardwired into me.
But to be fair, it is completely different from everything they know.
I know hunger - not starvation thankfully but I do know sincere heavy duty
hunger. No thanks.
Nobody yet has told me how to make a living developing free software as a
private individual. GPL effectively precludes that. Walk it through with an
accurate view of reality. You either find somebody or some foundation to pay you
or you wash dishes to live and in your one hour a day that is free you code.
Sadly that produces crappy code.
{^_^}
