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Not going to happen. At least, not for me. $ per month is a financial and (perhaps more importantly) mental burden, and I'm certainly not going to have it hangi

Not going to happen. At least, not for me. $ per month is a financial and (perhaps more importantly) mental burden, and I'm certainly not going to have it hanging over my head over a text editor (or a text replacement utility, or a password manager). I'm usually not political in my software choices, but subscriptions make me see Stallman-red. If my favorite app goes subscription, I automatically move on to a competitor or (more likely) an open source alternative. Over time, I've realized that the only real way to guarantee longevity for your essential tools is to either use big-name products (Google, Apple, etc.) or to switch to open source alternatives. In the long run -- or even five years! -- subscriptions won't help your indie app survive. I'm also a developer, and I hate subscriptions from that side too. I'm interested in making software, not providing personal support or maintaining servers. Most apps don't need to spend a decade in development; you're just finding new ways of burning valuable programming time. I prefer to release my software and move on while still providing occasional updates, making up for lost repeat business with a polyculture of products. In my opinion, the way forward is to have a system for collectively funding open source projects of all sizes. Let the software be free, but fairly pay developers for their efforts. (Snowdrift[1] wants to do something like this, but I haven't seen much activity there in the past few years.) Most of my essential day-to-day software now is open source. We need the best talent, from code gurus to UI wizards, working on these applications, because I am convinced it will be the only software still standing a century down the line. (In fairness, I think Standardnotes is doing it right. Their code is open source and you can host your own instance if you like. This does not apply to closed source software in the midst of the subscription craze like Ulysses, 1Password, TextExpander, etc.) [1]: https://snowdrift.coop https://snowdrift.coop

AndrewKemendo 9y ago
I'm interested in making software, not providing personal support or maintaining servers...I prefer to release my software and move on while still releasing occasional updates, making up for lost repeat business with a polyculture of products. What you basically just said was: I want to build products, not a business. Ok, that's fine, but realize that's the freelancer's life, not someone who is actually trying to make a business around their product.
- archagon 9y ago
  Sure, agreed 100%. But I've also noticed that many products from "businesses, not product-builders" tend to start out cheery, then thrash around with new business models for a while, then ultimately die or get consumed by the big fish. In light of this, I think there should be more ways to collectively fund those derelict product-builders. Imagine if Inkscape got a few million to hire some talent, bringing it up to the quality level of e.g. Affinity Designer? Nobody would be using Illustrator in a few years!
- hobarrera 9y ago
  If you want to make a business rather than a product then don't just slap a subscription model onto a product, but rather, work with an actual business idea.

AndrewKemendo 9y ago

I'm interested in making software, not providing personal support or maintaining servers...I prefer to release my software and move on while still releasing occasional updates, making up for lost repeat business with a polyculture of products. What you basically just said was: I want to build products, not a business. Ok, that's fine, but realize that's the freelancer's life, not someone who is actually trying to make a business around their product.

archagon 9y ago
Sure, agreed 100%. But I've also noticed that many products from "businesses, not product-builders" tend to start out cheery, then thrash around with new business models for a while, then ultimately die or get consumed by the big fish. In light of this, I think there should be more ways to collectively fund those derelict product-builders. Imagine if Inkscape got a few million to hire some talent, bringing it up to the quality level of e.g. Affinity Designer? Nobody would be using Illustrator in a few years!
hobarrera 9y ago
If you want to make a business rather than a product then don't just slap a subscription model onto a product, but rather, work with an actual business idea.