• peak_dunning_krueger@feddit.de
    0·
    7 months ago

    The cost of switching to an unfamiliar Interface and workflow is high enough, charging money to do it will further increase the barrier to entry.

    Paying for open source software sounds good on paper, but if it is required, the software will never accumulate the users to make the development have any meaning.

    There has to be a “try it before you buy it” too. Otherwise the permutations of scams are obvious and nobody will fall for that. Idk how you would prove that the software works, without giving an actual copy of the software.

    Also, legalities between different countries. You will just not get your money back from “trustworthy nigerian software dev who just needs 50$ to give you some software”.

    So no.

    Do donate if you can though. If you value the software you use, you will pretty obviously recognize the utility and the cost to you, should it go away.

    • Freesoftwareenjoyer@lemmy.world
      0·
      7 months ago

      Paying for open source software sounds good on paper, but if it is required, the software will never accumulate the users to make the development have any meaning.

      Based on what you said, I’m not sure what you mean by “open source”, but Free Software gives you the right to distribute the program (https://www.gnu.org/philosophy/free-sw.en.html#four-freedoms). So anyone who owns a copy can legally share it with you. There are commercial Free Software projects. The game Mindustry is one example.

      • peak_dunning_krueger@feddit.de
        0·
        7 months ago

        The game Mindustry is one example.

        Yes. And as you can see it has 14k reviews on steam while factorio has 141k reviews.

        It’s also a game, so there is no productivity gain or loss associated with it. There is no on call IT support, but you also don’t need any and if something breaks, you lose nothing except the ability to play THIS game for a short while. It’s not a… webserver you run your online shop through where every hour of downtime costs you X hundreds of euros or dollars.

        The game was also made by what looks like one guy. It’s not, you know libre office. With hundreds and thousands of contributors and a huge problem of how to distribute the money.

        Of course you’re allowed to distribute it. And of course you’re allowed to charge for it. But realistically, nearly nobody would use it.

  • bort@feddit.de
    0·
    7 months ago

    there is plenty open source software, that you can buy. There are many modes:

    • you buy the support (redhead)
    • you buy the long-term-support (ubuntu)
    • you pay for backports to old releases (keycloak iirc)
    • there is a open source version, and you can pay for enterprise features and hosting (gitlab)
    • there is an open source version, and you pay for customization (star office, iirc)

    and my personal favorit:

    • you pay a random developer to submit pullrequests for bugs that are relevant to you
    • Freesoftwareenjoyer@lemmy.world
      0·
      7 months ago

      This is all true, but it’s interesting how people often forget another simple option: the software is commercial - it is simply sold on some website/store. Just like you can buy the game Mindustry on Steam, but it is Libre Software and even though you can get the build for free on GitHub and its itch.io page, people still pay for the Steam version. I wonder why people forget about this option, since it’s probably the simplest one.

      Of course, Steam is a proprietary, unethical platform, so I’m just using it as an example - I’m not saying we should sell there.

      • bort@feddit.de
        0·
        7 months ago

        thanks. I forgot about that. But I’d like to add, that this models kind of feels like “donations with extra steps” to me. i.e. you can get it for free, but you choose to pay the developer even though you have to.