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Exactly. What's more I prefer for the software I use to be proprietary, because then I know that me paying its price is enough to support its ongoing maintenanc

Exactly. What's more I prefer for the software I use to be proprietary, because then I know that me paying its price is enough to support its ongoing maintenance and development. When it comes to open source projects seeking donations, I'd need to pay incomparably more, knowing that most users don't pay. With the proprietary model everyone pays their fair share to keep the project afloat. With donations an army of freeloaders bears the benefits of the funding provided by few who pull all the weight. So if a project is donation-funded I look instead for a proprietary one, because it will be more likely to stay afloat in the future and return my investment of learning it and organizing my workflow around it instead of becoming abandonware.

rglullis 5y ago
May I suggest an alternative strategy/view? Don't think of it as "freeloaders" vs "few who pull all the weight", and don't think you should be paying to "keep things afloat". Instead, keep whatever tool is best for you at the moment (even if proprietary) but don't stop looking/fomenting the development of a viable free alternative. If you find any project attempting to build an alternative for the commercial ones, follow up with (a) small financial contributions, (b) periodic best-effort attempts/evaluations of the tool as the alternative and (c) feedback on what is missing for it to become your main alternative. Unlike businesses, free software projects don't need to have a short-term ROI and they don't need to give up if the venture is not profitable. But your small contributions will at least show as a signal that the developers have a potential audience, and your feedback can also provide them with guidance/help them iterate faster on what is relevant. Aside from marketing materials and mission statements, companies rarely care about their customers and they will not hold you in high regard just because you are giving them money. If they find themselves in a position where they can make more profit by screwing you over, they will. Conversely, if the free alternative does become a hit, you and everyone else gets to benefit. If it doesn't, it can be picked up later by other people. And even if it fails completely, you didn't lose much. It's the type of strategy that gives you very little downside, a huge upside and also gives you bragging rights and the feeling of a righteous soul. :)

rglullis 5y ago

May I suggest an alternative strategy/view? Don't think of it as "freeloaders" vs "few who pull all the weight", and don't think you should be paying to "keep things afloat". Instead, keep whatever tool is best for you at the moment (even if proprietary) but don't stop looking/fomenting the development of a viable free alternative. If you find any project attempting to build an alternative for the commercial ones, follow up with (a) small financial contributions, (b) periodic best-effort attempts/evaluations of the tool as the alternative and (c) feedback on what is missing for it to become your main alternative. Unlike businesses, free software projects don't need to have a short-term ROI and they don't need to give up if the venture is not profitable. But your small contributions will at least show as a signal that the developers have a potential audience, and your feedback can also provide them with guidance/help them iterate faster on what is relevant. Aside from marketing materials and mission statements, companies rarely care about their customers and they will not hold you in high regard just because you are giving them money. If they find themselves in a position where they can make more profit by screwing you over, they will. Conversely, if the free alternative does become a hit, you and everyone else gets to benefit. If it doesn't, it can be picked up later by other people. And even if it fails completely, you didn't lose much. It's the type of strategy that gives you very little downside, a huge upside and also gives you bragging rights and the feeling of a righteous soul. :)