“It should be free”, probably the four most inflammatory words uttered very recently to Mac developers. I don’t listen to podcasts generally (with few exceptions) and I didn’t hear the context of the original remark, so I’m not going to comment that. But I can give you my perspective on software with a $0 price tag. (Please, let’s not turn this into a discussion of what the word “free” could be interpreted to mean in “free software”. For the remainder of this post, it will exclusively refer to the $0 price tag variety.)
I put out four apps myself. They are all free and none of them are terribly encompassing feature-wise. Like every other free app or tool in the known universe, I’m taking donations, but at no point has payment been required to download or use my software. This is as it should be, even though I’ve heard encouraging words from people thinking I should start selling stuff.
The amount of support mail I get depends on four factors: how easy it is for people to contact me, how many people use my software, how many people need help and what they have paid for the software. With something that costs anything, even $2 or $5, people will expect (rightly) that you’ll be there to help them, and the amount of support mail will increase radically. So how do I control this? I don’t want to make it harder for people to contact me, and I don’t think I would want less people to use my software (that’s not all for me to decide, in any case). And I don’t have any more time to spend with developing and supporting my software. (I wish I would, but I don’t.) For me, continuing to provide free apps is a useful way to bail out of this.
If I were to read something into the sentiment that “Mac software should be free”, beyond suspecting greed, I think it’s a reflection of the sentiment that there’s so much great software it’s hard to prioritize what to actually buy. I suppose being on an operating system where that is a problem is a pleasant situation.
The “It should be free” comment was directed to the program Pukka. It’s a pretty simple program that allows you to create links in del.icio.us and edit/enter tags easily through a simple client application.
Leo Laporte was saying he felt it should be free due to the fact that it doesn’t really do all that much other than add links to del.icio.us with tags. The software normally runs for $12 I think.
I kind of agree with him, but I didn’t mind paying the $12 since, being a developer myself, I understand that even simple looking programs are sometimes very difficult to write.
I don’t think he was being derogatory in his comment since he uses the software and claims to love it.
P.S. I don’t know if you know this or not, but I am not able to log into your site to write comments with my normal OpenID from WordPress.com (http://switcherblog.wordpress.com). I had to use the one that AOL automatically sets up for me as an AIM user. Just thought you might want to know.
By http://openid.aol.com/VesperDEM · 2008.03.28 21:49
I read Daniel’s post so I know what it was about roughly, I just didn’t hear the surrounding episode or even comparable preceding episodes that could help establish further context.
Like you, in any case, I have a hard time believing that these kinds of comments in general are intended to be derogatory. But I’m also opposed to assuming that people only make these sort of remarks since they are either greedy or failing to understand the amount of developer effort involved in even bringing small applications to market. I think it’s perfectly possible to grasp those things and still express an opinion. (Since that’s all it is.)
The OpenID plugin I’m using is reasonably ancient, which probably explains your inability to log in. I’m waiting for WordPress to start offering native support for OpenID, since the plugins are all patches on today’s architecture and to be truly great OpenID support will have to be built into tomorrow’s architecture. This has taken so long to wait out that I’m considering another weblog engine, despite my love for WP and the advances in 2.5′s interface.
By Jesper · 2008.03.28 22:02
[...] your first priority should be keeping your customers happy, not reviewers. Jesper notes his reasons for offering his software for free. His argument makes complete sense but does not invalidate Jalkut’s complaint.↩I’m [...]
By This is ZX81.org.uk » Blog Archive » So, you got a bad review? · 2008.03.29 14:43