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I completely get how hard it is to sell tools to developers, but I am not sure everyone gets the why. I would pay $1000 tomorrow for an Emacs that doesn't flic

I completely get how hard it is to sell tools to developers, but I am not sure everyone gets the why. I would pay $1000 tomorrow for an Emacs that doesn't flicker and is several times faster, and is easier to extend and modify -- and I'll give the money happily, convinced that I made a fantastic bargain. I'd happily pay a monthly subscription for a compiler SaaS that makes my production binaries as small and fast as possible (and be integrated in a CI/CD system so the binary never touches my computer and just gets deployed to production). But there are three problems. 1. The commercial entity developing the tool might fall on hard times and give up. What are the programmers relying on the tool to do? Most companies also never open-source their stuff once they go belly up either. You will be stuck with a non-updated tool whose value (and thus part of your value as well) will only be declining with time. 2. Nobody is interested in investing real money and professional programmers to make the open-source and free software better. You have stuff like `semgrep` and many others that are barely limping along -- and they deserve A LOT OF LOVE! We will all benefit from them! But the incentives just aren't there for the players who can make the true difference. 3. Our employers are unwilling to absorb the costs for better tooling. The minute you ask for a commercial license for something you are met with "why are all other 20 million Python programmers doing just fine without it?" and the discussion immediately falls apart. In order to never suffer from #1 we all stick to the lowest common denominator which is both logical and sad. To solve #2, charity funds should be given to professional teams that specifically tackle tooling. Not sure #3 can be solved. Culture changes are extremely hard and even when they happen they are as slow as a glacier moving. On the other hand, I've paid for commercial tools in the past when I was convinced they'll increase my productivity. So sometimes we should view this as an investment.

chillfox 6y ago
I think there are ways of solving number 1. Maybe if the company was bound to opensource the code a few years after release or under certain circumstances.
jariel 6y ago
#1 is not the issue, or rather, it's the same for any tool or software you buy it has nothing to do with tooling. #2 is a separate issue entirely. #3 If your boss has difficulty wondering why it's good to spend $100/year on something that saves you a lot of time, find a new job. I suggest that's not the case, and that there is a disconnect. Business managers generally are not dumb, just do the math: 'This tool gets X% more done or saves Y% time, which gets us $Z in value' - it's very good return for our investors.
nikanj 6y ago
#3 someone always pulls the "Linus Torvalds programs using nano. Real programmers don't need better tools.". And our culture is extremely toxic and bro-y, making it impossible to admit that maybe we're not all Torvalds.

chillfox 6y ago

I think there are ways of solving number 1. Maybe if the company was bound to opensource the code a few years after release or under certain circumstances.

jariel 6y ago

#1 is not the issue, or rather, it's the same for any tool or software you buy it has nothing to do with tooling. #2 is a separate issue entirely. #3 If your boss has difficulty wondering why it's good to spend $100/year on something that saves you a lot of time, find a new job. I suggest that's not the case, and that there is a disconnect. Business managers generally are not dumb, just do the math: 'This tool gets X% more done or saves Y% time, which gets us $Z in value' - it's very good return for our investors.

nikanj 6y ago

#3 someone always pulls the "Linus Torvalds programs using nano. Real programmers don't need better tools.". And our culture is extremely toxic and bro-y, making it impossible to admit that maybe we're not all Torvalds.