[HN Gopher] Ask HN: How to sell apps on Linux?
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Ask HN: How to sell apps on Linux?
Hi HN, With the recent major advancements of Linux phones and
tablets, convergence becoming a reality, I was wondering: How to
make a living creating apps for Linux, whether it be for the
Desktop or the phones? Do you have any experience or examples you
want to share? Are in-app subscriptions and enterprise support the
only way to go? As the usual distribution channels (repositories
and 'App Stores') don't seem to provide a straightforward way to
sell software.
Author : sylvain_kerkour
Score : 70 points
Date : 2021-04-03 10:12 UTC (2 days ago)
| zamalek wrote:
| Softmaker have a free version and a pro version. The former is
| available in the public proprietary repos (for Arch, at least).
| The latter is a download and requires an activation key. Their
| free version converted me into a paying customer.
| [deleted]
| amelius wrote:
| Make your software free to use by individuals and small
| companies, but require a payment from large companies (with e.g.
| >$1M revenue).
|
| This way you avoid being pirated too (large companies typically
| don't pirate).
| paxys wrote:
| > large companies typically don't pirate
|
| Depends on the definition of pirate. If you publish software as
| "free for personal use only" I can bet it will still be very
| widely downloaded and used by employees at large corporations,
| if for no other reason than to not have to go through the
| purchasing approval process.
| eps wrote:
| It's a popular subject in the shareware/isv circles and the
| stable consensus is that it's a _phenomenal_ pain in the ass.
|
| From the userbase being generally against the very idea of paying
| for software, to the complete zoo clusterfuck of the package
| managers, the amount of effort required to sell and support
| _native_ Linux is simply not worth the effort compared to even
| Macs, leave alone Windows.
| paxys wrote:
| The Linux phone and tablet market is still too underdeveloped and
| fragmented for a real answer here. There are several possible
| approaches for Linux apps on desktop, but that really depends on
| what you are building, who your target audience is etc.
| lucb1e wrote:
| Since I have no experience with GNU/Linux phones (only
| Android/Linux) but you're also interested in desktop answers:
| just look at what other paid software does that runs on Linux.
| When I go to sublimetext.com I just click buy and it gives me the
| option of paying for it with credit card or paypal. Or
| Atlassian's on-prem option: you just go there, pay for it, then
| get what you paid for. Keep it simple, no need for anything
| novel. Another example is factorio: again just an up front cost
| (though they should have offered at least the _option_ to pay
| towards upkeep costs because they do a superb job and the game is
| already really "done" and they keep releasing more and more
| minor features for free).
|
| If it's a subscription, the ongoing cost really needs to be worth
| it to me. I might donate much more easily than take a
| subscription, for example I pledged iirc 1% of K-9's (the email
| client) funding goal for a few months because I would like to get
| it out of its current stuck position even if I don't believe we
| need a person on an already-perfectly-functional email client
| working full time all the time. (I suppose here's your app
| example! Though donations aren't much of a business model, I'm
| aware.)
|
| Paid support would be interesting pretty much exclusively to
| businesses, from my experience.
| herbst wrote:
| Ubuntu has a store, Steam allows (any/game related?) software,
| Itch/Humble are kinda common (again kinda gaming related)
|
| But buying little apps is simply not common on linux. Sure many
| would but why when you can just apt an easily alternative.
|
| If you produce niche or major software subscription, buying
| licenses and co are more common anyway.
| loloquwowndueo wrote:
| Note though that the Ubuntu store is only for discovery, it
| doesn't have any support for paid applications. It did, but
| this was deprecated a couple of years ago as the then Ubuntu
| store service started changing to accommodate snaps.
|
| Paid applications do exist but they must implement their own
| post-installation payment mechanism - the snap store doesn't
| provide any facilities for this.
| simulo wrote:
| Most what steam offers is game related, but the categories they
| have are rather broad, one of them being "utilities".
| sylvain_kerkour wrote:
| Thank you!
|
| I completely forgot that Steam is not for games only.
| [deleted]
| [deleted]
| gnulinux wrote:
| > But buying little apps is simply not common on linux. Sure
| many would but why when you can just apt an easily alternative.
|
| Because I want to pay people to write good software for me. I
| hate using OSX and Windows, but I want to have a DAW like Logic
| etc. My only options are stuff like Ardour, which happen not to
| work on my computer (because linux audio system is broken) due
| to alsa/jack/pulseaudio weirdness. And I have no leverage over
| Ardour developers. All I can do is:
|
| * Look online to find solutions to my problem. This didn't lead
| anywhere.
|
| * Download Ardour code and understand how it connects to the
| audio device and reproduce it, this way I can see the error.
| Luckily I can read code, most consumers can't.
|
| * Send a message to Ardour devs/forums and cross fingers they
| help me out.
|
| I want a company that produces software like MSFT, AAPL, Adobe
| etc and make it linux first and GPL. I understand that this is
| a terrible business model, which is why I want to pay extra
| money for this shit. Like Logic on OSX is $200. I want to pay
| $300 something that's approximately like that but works on my
| distro as flawlessly as Logic works on OSX.
|
| I just want to not read pulse audio man files when I need a
| DAW, in exchange for $X * $200.
|
| I'm just daydreaming, I know this stuff will never happen. I'm
| not sure exactly why. I hate the modern software ecosystem.
| pta2002 wrote:
| Reaper is absolutely amazing, works on Linux just fine
| (natively! And supports LV2 plugins) and it's only $60 (and
| the demo version is a WinRar-like "I'm still using it"
| button). It's also a completely no-bullshit approach to
| software development, no subscriptions, nothing like that.
| Buy the license once, and upgrade to a commercial license
| (which is still less than the price of something like Ableton
| or Logic) if you are using it to make more than something
| like $20k. It's proprietary, but it's completely
| customizable, even coming with its own scripting engine. I
| think you should give it a shot, GPL is the only thing
| missing from your list of requirements, but it's also made by
| a small independent team that doesn't do the usual crap
| associated with bigger apps.
|
| A good alternative to JACK and PulseAudio is PipeWire, which
| for me has worked basically completely flawlessly and
| supports JACK and PulseAudio bridges natively.
| inetknght wrote:
| I am both a developer for and user of Linux.
|
| Paid-for software is best distributed using your own repository.
| @wesamco's comment describes how Sublime Text is distributed and
| it works well. Other paid-for softwares have similar success.
|
| I use Synergy. To install, I need to download a pre-built
| application. When it runs it will ask for a license key. I type
| in the license key and it goes and verifies it.
|
| Both solutions solve different problems. The repository solves
| _package management_ : installation, versioning, and dependency
| chains. License keys ensure that the software is paid for.
| vbsteven wrote:
| Support or service subscriptions are probably your best bet.
|
| The only software I have paid for on my Linux machines is
| IntelliJ.
| gtf21 wrote:
| I recently bought a copy of Pianoteq for Linux -- was very
| simple, I paid and received a license and a download link.
| Someone has already built a package for archlinux so I just had
| to point that at the downloaded file from modartt and away we go.
| Very simple.
| brudgers wrote:
| Make something useful for Linux users. TurboPrint is an example
| of Linux software I have bought. It's more capable than CUPS for
| my use case.
|
| It solves a known problem. It sells via a website. Makes enough
| money to have been around a long time and charges enough to stay
| up to date.
|
| It is also in a market segment that is orders of magnitude larger
| than Linux phones an tablets are ever likely to achieve.
|
| Good luck.
| bayindirh wrote:
| I use some paid applications on Linux: inSync, MATLAB, StarUML,
| Pagico, Spotify and Dropbox. Last two are maybe services but,
| they have clients which change capabilities with license level.
|
| If you want to sell me Linux software, provide a fair pricing
| model and provide a native app (Spotify is Electron but, it's not
| a bad offender). Also, please do not neglect your app just
| because it's on Linux. I don't like to feel neglected just
| because I use a free & open source OS. You'd kill my loyalty.
|
| Some of the applications are subscriptions, some are not. Some
| require paid upgrades, some do not. If I feel that your software
| worth the money you ask for, I'll pay for it, no questions asked.
|
| I think inSync, StarUML and Pagico has great pricing models. The
| other examples I have work as a subscription already.
|
| All of the applications I install (except MATLAB) comes as a .deb
| package. No frills. Plain .deb. Sometimes a repo is attached,
| which makes it nicer.
| mynegation wrote:
| A bit of HN pedantry - Spotify uses CEF (Chrome Embedded
| Framework) and not Electron.
| bayindirh wrote:
| So this clarifies why it behaves better, thanks. Never had
| the time to dig/research it.
|
| Thanks again.
| qbasic_forever wrote:
| Make a living off it? Write the app in a framework that lets you
| one click compile and build for Android and iOS too. That's the
| truth.
| TruthWillHurt wrote:
| More often than not I pay for software my business uses as a
| subscription.
|
| You could go for a "freemium" model where advanced features are
| payed-for, especially collaborative/multi-user ones, which will
| increase your userbase (individuals), that then recommend it to
| their company.
|
| Collaboration/backup/remote-state features are also easier to
| justify as payed feature because you will need to store and serve
| content from a central location.
| pjmlp wrote:
| The only way is to force the users to pay via Web applications
| and SaaS services, really.
| ris wrote:
| Artificial scarcity is an absurd and broken model. Please don't
| put yourself or your prospective users through that nonsense.
| arcturus17 wrote:
| Aspiring to pay your bills by whatever legal means you deem
| appropriate is a fantastic model though, and I thoroughly
| commend OP for trying.
| oblio wrote:
| What artificial scarcity?
| jonahbenton wrote:
| IOW, duh, FIRST solve the artificial scarcity of food and
| housing, THEN write free as in beer/license software. Stop
| doing it wrong.
|
| /sarcasm
| jll29 wrote:
| Since the discussion here is a lot about business model and
| package managers etc., I'll throw in two pieces of advice from
| the business side:
|
| SS1. You want to make sure that your app solves a real problem
| well that users actually care about.
|
| This is easy to understand, but sadly many talented software
| people ignore the wisdom and pay dearly. It fair enough if you
| WANT to write yet another text editor or you WANT to write
| something in Go and you pick yet another password manager as an
| exercise. But to build a commercially successful product, you
| should do plan for success and not leave it to luck. What areas
| are underserved for Linux, what groups have the budget to
| purchase your program and also are actual Linux users? (How) can
| you reach them?
|
| SS2. Develop apps that are better than the free apps.
|
| This isn't very hard for many areas, since there are a lot poor
| free applications out there. However, many app types are not
| "mission critical", which means you can live fine without
| using/having them at all.
|
| An example of a killer app was the spreadsheet app on the Apple
| II: people literally bought the machine to use the software. Of
| course there's a lot available today, so the bar for success is
| higher.
| bityard wrote:
| I wish I could upvote this multiple times. If you want people
| to give you money for what you do, you have to _bring value_ to
| the table. Don't just put out something mildly interesting and
| then beg afterwards for donations of "support" from your non-
| existent community.
| freedomben wrote:
| I'm a long time Linux user who buys software. If you want me to
| buy it, these are the things you should do:
|
| 1. Provide an RPM repo or COPR repo I can add so it is managed
| with dnf. You'll also want to provide .deb too
|
| 2. Make source available with payment, and allow modification for
| individual use. It's ok to prohibit redistribution as long as
| personal use/hacking is ok
|
| 3. One time payment is a lot more attractive to me than a
| subscription. I'm beginning to despise subscription software
|
| What are you thinking of making?
| edgyquant wrote:
| I can't agree re: subscriptions. As a kid I always wanted
| photoshop/flash/etc but they came with 500-1000$ price tags.
| I'd imagine now that you can buy a subscription to photoshop
| more poor kids like I was are able to use it.
| dvdkon wrote:
| I certainly couldn't afford Photoshop when I was a kid, but I
| can't imagine that being too different with a 20USD/month
| subscription. Maybe there are some people who can't afford
| 500USD software but are fine with paying a hefty monthly fee,
| but I wouldn't bet on it too much.
|
| Since we're discussing kids, I'd think boxed software would
| be much more "giftable", therefore easier to get as a kid. A
| game or program for Christmas? Sure! A WoW/Photoshop
| subscription? I wouldn't gift it. But that might just be me
| fighting against trends everyone's adopted already...
| adkadskhj wrote:
| > One time payment is a lot more attractive to me than a
| subscription. I'm beginning to despise subscription software
|
| As an aside, i don't mind the middleground for subscription;
| buying once to own it, but getting updates for only 1 year.
| I've experienced this with TablePlus and DataGrid and it's been
| pleasant.
|
| I agree, i dislike subscriptions and i avoid them now. But i
| don't mind paying for updates at all. If anything it feels
| reasonable and inline with my desires as a consumer - continued
| support.
|
| Too many products i've bought feel abandoned in favor of an
| upcoming 2.0 to again get money out of me. Give me rolling
| evergreen releases with a sub-like, but let me own what i've
| bought so i can be sure it will always work for me. Seems like
| a good compromise to me.
| ajford wrote:
| Seconded. I dislike a forced-subscription model, but I'm
| definitely onboard with this type of hybrid model.
|
| Often times I go between jobs where a particular piece of
| software is no longer relevant to me, such as perhaps
| DataGrip from JetBrains. I occasionally have use for it
| again, but in general I'm no longer interacting with a rdbms
| anymore in my current role.
|
| Thanks to the hybrid subscription model, I can stop paying
| for the tool but keep my last 'lifetime' version as long as I
| care to use it. And if I pick up a job in the future that
| makes heavy use of it, I can re-evaluate whether it's worth
| subscribing for another term to get updates.
|
| In the same vain, I have an active sub for PyCharm (also from
| JetBrains) because as a Python dev, it makes a lot of sense
| for me to keep up with the new features as they continue to
| provide increasing value.
| candiddevmike wrote:
| This is the model we use with self hosted Domestica
| (https://about.domestica.app). You own the premium version,
| indefinitely, up to the version your subscription expires on.
| [deleted]
| don-code wrote:
| Could I ask for any examples of software you're buying on
| Linux? Outside of games (Steam), niche software
| (ModelSim/QuestaSim), and tools that I just don't need the full
| power of to justify their cost (MATLAB), I've found that the
| Linux ecosystem doesn't have many paid tools.
|
| For one instance, I'd be willing to pay for Photoshop - and I
| did pay for Photoshop when I was still a Windows user. But
| instead I use some combination of okay free software (GIMP) and
| unpolished free software (Hugin) instead, because that's what's
| available.
| haecceity wrote:
| Sell customer support and then get bought by IBM.
| phendrenad2 wrote:
| Linux phones are really taking off without a good app store? That
| doesn't sound plausible to me.
| orta wrote:
| elementary OS has an App Store: https://developer.elementary.io
|
| I'm not sure if it'd be big enough to get you doing it full time
| though.
| sliken wrote:
| Details matter, but without anything else to go on, I'd consider
| an open source projects, then sell a professionally managed
| service that makes it easy for customers to use. Of course
| include backups, patching, and support as part of the management.
|
| Projects like Piwigo (image editing, organizing and hosting) and
| SchedMD/Slurm are good examples.
|
| Generally it's MUCH easier to budget based on subscriptions, then
| playing the prediction game for which users will pay $x for
| feature Y.
| wesamco wrote:
| Sublime HQ Pty Ltd, developers of Sublime Text and Sublime Merge
| sell licenses and use the package managers of each distro and
| host their own package mirror.
|
| > Sublime Text 3 includes an auto-upgrade mechanism on Windows
| and OS X to make upgrades a snap. Instead of going against the
| grain of the Linux ecosystem, packages and package repositories
| are provided for most of the major distributions.
|
| https://www.sublimetext.com/docs/3/linux_repositories.html
| woodruffw wrote:
| Speaking as an end user: I _deeply_ appreciate this particular
| approach. Sublime is one of the few {paid,proprietary}
| applications that I use on Linux; being able to install it with
| my normal package manager reduces my cognitive overhead and
| keeps me reassured that updates do indeed go through.
| na85 wrote:
| Interesting. Does Sublime come with the source (how is it
| licensed?) when you purchase it?
| skadamat wrote:
| I believe Sublime's source is open source but not for re-
| selling. You can use it 100% free but it has a popup asking
| you to upgrade to a license once every few weeks or so.
| oblio wrote:
| It's not open source, did they change that?
| JediPig wrote:
| it is closed source, and ST4 is what made me remove
| VSCODE from my laptop.. 120 megs vs 1.2 gb of ram...
|
| ST4 is a complete VSCode killer.
| nicoburns wrote:
| This is incorrect. Sublime's source code isn't published
| at all (or even leaked). You are correct that you have
| use it for free with a nag window, although this is
| against the license beyond an unspecified "evaluation
| period".
| captn3m0 wrote:
| No, it is closed-source with an open plugin API that you
| can use to extend it.
| tvb12 wrote:
| That seems like a ton of effort for them to keep up with,
| though. Would it not be easier to make an appimage?
|
| I use a smaller Linux distribution. I checked the package
| manager, and there is no Sublime text package. It is
| available as a "third party" package, which I think fetches a
| package from the third party's website, then repackages it in
| the local format. It would mean that I would need to check
| the third party repository for updates. Alternatively, I
| could probably find it in the snap or flatpak stores. Not a
| big deal at all, but I do get nervous when I can't find
| something in the package manager and can't find an appimage
| on the company's website.
|
| In short, I really like appimages. Please make appimages!
| oneplane wrote:
| Most packaging systems are fairly easy to use. It only
| becomes a problem if you're doing very weird things, like
| using very old, or very new libraries, or spreading files
| all over the system.
| zamadatix wrote:
| Not sure about the specifics of your distribution as you
| didn't name it but that sounds like how it works on all
| distros supported in the link above. E.g. on Ubuntu you're
| adding a 3rd party repository to your apt sources not just
| pulling it from the Ubuntu repos out of the box.
| qwerty456127 wrote:
| > That seems like a ton of effort for them to keep up with,
| though. Would it not be easier to make an appimage?
|
| I'm curious where does this myth come from. Making a Debian
| or an Arch package doesn't seem any hard.
| aliceryhl wrote:
| It probably is easier with appimage, but I don't think the
| difference would be _that_ large. Certainly not a ton of
| effort.
| woodruffw wrote:
| Of course it's effort, but that's what end users are paying
| for! The best software in the world isn't much use to me if
| it requires me to use a separate, non-first-party
| distribution system on Linux.
| lenkite wrote:
| Really wish there was a HOW-TO on Linux software packaging for
| all distributions. To get to the state that ST3 reached seems
| to involve a lot of research.
| GordonS wrote:
| I'd also be really interested in this, even if it was only
| for the major distros.
| jll29 wrote:
| I love it that the Sublime producing company permits one
| license regardless of the machine, so I can have the same
| license file on all my machines (Mac and Linux laptops, desktop
| and servers). It was money well spent.
| captn3m0 wrote:
| +1 for the "setup-your-own-repo" approach. Can't speak for
| every distro, but I loved this across Debian/Ubuntu/ArchLinux -
| having updates coming via a single source, ie my distro's
| package manager.
| timClicks wrote:
| The snap store was specifically designed for commercial use
| cases, IIRC
| dec0dedab0de wrote:
| You can follow all the same techniques that software companies on
| other OSes use, for example I bought Pycharm to use on linux, and
| its no different than anywhere else. Steam also runs on linux.
|
| If you want to be OpenSource and sell your apps there are a few
| different ways. You could not provide any official downloads
| unless they pay, your paying customers could legally redistribute
| your code, but only you would have the official source. You could
| charge for binaries and provide code free of charge like Ardour.
| You could also sell support contracts, so paying gives them an
| offical account to ask questions on the forum or a number to call
| in.
|
| But either way its the same as windows or mac, the only reason
| most non free software companies don't sell linux software is
| because there are less users, and they don't want to deal with
| making sure it works.
| edgyquant wrote:
| This is unrelated but I love PyCharm and have only switched
| recently. I just wish there was an obvious way to open a
| terminal in window like on VSCode, there may be and I just
| don't know it, but alt tabbing works fine for now
| calmoo wrote:
| Terminal windows are built into Pycharm. They also
| automatically open with the project's virtualenv for each
| terminal instance which is great.
| sedeki wrote:
| There is a terminal tab at the bottom of PyCharm.
| asymptosis wrote:
| Steam is a great example. I'm usually very pro-FOSS, but when
| it comes to gaming, I happily fork over the $$$, and a
| surprisingly large number of games work just fine on Linux.
|
| As I understand it, Valve have been explicitly marketing
| proton-compatibility as a low-hurdle standard to help Windows
| developers dip into the Linux market. Furthermore, changes are
| coming to the Linux kernel which will make it even easier for
| Proton to run Windows software.
|
| The ease of proton compatibility completely obviate the tired
| arguments about how Linux users don't have enough market share.
| _e wrote:
| Develop for cross platform. People have mentioned PyCharm which
| has the same user experience on Linux, Windows and MacOS.
| NoOn3 wrote:
| Maybe sell binaries for popular distribution.
| opan wrote:
| One idea that I think could be interesting is to take jobs
| working on existing free software projects. Maybe a project has
| 150 open issues and someone is particularly bothered by one with
| no attention since 2018, so they're willing to pay for it to be
| fixed. This way you still make money (if you can find such
| deals/jobs) but you aren't locking out a share of users by
| charging everyone for a piece of software.
|
| I've seen a bit of this sort of dynamic on the omemo.top site,
| where you can see which XMPP clients have OMEMO support. In the
| case of clients lacking it, they link to open issues, and some
| show cash bounties on them.
|
| I care about free as in freedom more than free as in no cost, but
| I don't think I've used any paid software... pretty much in my
| whole life. Unless you count using MS Office or Photoshop in a
| school computer lab where the school had paid for licenses for
| all the machines. (and even then it was rare for me to use any
| non-gratis stuff)
| burtonator wrote:
| I'm about to get downvoted to oblivion but the solution here is
| don't sell apps on Linux.
|
| People on Linux don't pay for apps. Target a platform like iOS
| where users are willing to pay for apps. 85% of total app store
| volume across iOS and Android is from iOS.
| pavlov wrote:
| JetBrains does about $300M annual revenue, and a substantial
| portion of that is from Linux users. Clearly people on Linux do
| pay for desktop apps if they offer enough value.
| _trampeltier wrote:
| I'm not a Linux user because it does cost me nothing. I even
| have a couple of unused Win Pro licences around here. I'm a
| Linux user because I like my private freedom.
| sandebert wrote:
| I'm a Linux user, and I pay for software without hesitation. In
| some cases I even go out of my way to try to pay for something,
| which isn't always accepted by the developer(s).
| ajford wrote:
| Heavy Linux user here, and I'm more than willing to pay for
| good software that provides a vital service for me. That being
| said, there definitely is a fine line, as if the software
| doesn't provide value over a similar oss/foss tool, then it's
| not justifying it's price.
|
| PyCharm is a well-know paid software that has a strong
| Linux/OSX presence, as well as almost all other JetBrains
| software. Sublime Text is another.
| rdegges wrote:
| I've been using Linux on the desktop forever. Today, I mainly
| use Pop! Os.
|
| Anddddd, I've happily bought and use paid software on Linux all
| the time! I play Steam games, use InSync (a Dropbox-like
| service for Google Drive), and several other paid
| apps/services. I'd love it if there were more!
| bscphil wrote:
| Not going to downvote you, but if you are downvoted it's
| probably because this isn't true. Take the video game market as
| an example; people are very much willing to pay for video games
| on Linux (via Humble Bundle, Itch, Steam, or GoG) even when the
| games are usually DRM-free and could trivially be pirated.
|
| If there's not much of a market in other areas, then frankly
| I'd have to say it's because the open source ecosystem is
| simply too good on Linux. There's already an app that can do
| what you want for 99% of use cases, and it's open source and
| free. Hard to compete with that. You wouldn't criticize Windows
| because someone can't find anyone to buy their web browser;
| Linux is like that, just for most every application.
| pjmlp wrote:
| It is hardly enough to sustain a business, the other
| platforms are the ones that keep the lights on.
| tubularhells wrote:
| Ask the developers of Insync, UKUU and Aseprite.
|
| They sell licences via their sites, with activation codes or
| Google authentication.
|
| But if you want to make a living, I suggest making a Linux phone
| oriented application store first and foremost, and figuring out
| the DRM that way. Developers will come if an ecosystem is built
| for easy deployments and selling software.
| devenblake wrote:
| >How to make a living creating apps for Linux, whether it be for
| the Desktop or the phones?
|
| I want to phrase this with as much hostility as possible: Don't.
| Software cannot be owned or paid for and any attempt to normalize
| the opposite is cruel to anybody with a functioning brain. You
| cannot own a thought, or data, or bits or bytes, and much of the
| software you will no doubt use to create your premium software
| was made with this philosophy.
|
| If you want to solicit donations that's very cool and there are
| people who will donate to you. But any attempt to abridge access
| to code without mandatory payment is not only ridiculous but
| purely unethical. (and no, I don't care how many HN points I lose
| by saying this)
| oblio wrote:
| You're literally against people making a living developing
| software for Linux...
| fctorial wrote:
| > I don't care how many HN points I lose by saying this
|
| 5 at most
| jraph wrote:
| You can ethically sell a service with your libre software.
| jldugger wrote:
| > But any attempt to abridge access to code without mandatory
| payment is not only ridiculous but purely unethical
|
| Is it ethical to pay someone to create software that wouldn't
| otherwise exist? Is it ethical to create the software and then
| refuse to deliver it until the check clears?
|
| Is it ethical for a semiretired hacker in the US to build a 1
| person SaaS company around software written by someone making
| do with ten dollars a day in the phillipines without sending
| them a dime?
| BlueTemplar wrote:
| Hmm ?
|
| https://www.gnu.org/philosophy/selling.en.html
|
| > If a license does not permit users to make copies and sell
| them, it is a nonfree license.
|
| And it's because of misunderstandings like these that "free"
| should be renamed to "libre".
| tsegers wrote:
| > and much of the software you will no doubt use to create your
| premium software was made with this philosophy.
|
| Even the FSF considers selling software a good thing [1]
|
| [1] https://www.gnu.org/philosophy/selling.html
| turbinerneiter wrote:
| I'd really wish for a paid app store on Linux to be more common,
| especially for open source apps. Make it a monthly recurring
| donation even, but send me a proper bill for bookkeeping.
| TitanXen wrote:
| Look into the app store made by the elementary os team. It is
| very similar to what you wish for.
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