4 ms·

Couldn't this happen to paid apps just as easily?

laurent123456 3y ago
If the developer is well paid, probably not? Why would they throw away what they built for a lump sum if they have decent side-business and recurrent revenues?
- deleted 3y ago
  [deleted]
- mulmen 3y ago
  If I offer you 100 years worth of revenue for your browser extension are you really not going to entertain the idea of selling?
  - laurent123456 3y ago
    Sure but they probably won't offer that much. What I mean is that the value of this app, despite being free, is not zero, but that's probably what the developer was getting. So even if he got 10K for it, he's happy and moved on.
    - mulmen 3y ago
      The app originally set the desktop theme to dark mode or not. That’s not worth more than a single one dollar payment, if that. If I want to do some shady app shit I am buying install base. 100x an app that makes a few grand a year could still be worth it for my nefarious purposes.
- ohgodplsno 3y ago
  Given a sufficient lump sum that guarantees I no longer have to work, my morals can be easily bought.
  - deleted 3y ago
    [deleted]
- TheRealDunkirk 3y ago
  For me, StackOverflow proved that literally everyone has a price. The world is hurtling full-speed towards the corporation-citizenship cyberpunk dystopia people have been writing for years, as every company buys up everything they can in order to stay "competitive."
deciplex 3y ago
Seems like a developer that is getting literally nothing for his app or plugin is more likely to sell it than a developer that's getting some income from it. At the least, the buyer would need to match the current value that the app provides its author.
- croes 3y ago
  I don't know. A developer who didn't charge anything from the beginning has more likely other motives releasing his software than making money. But if you already make a little money you may easily fall for a lot of money.
  - deciplex 3y ago
    I mean, everyone's gotta eat. I think there's plenty of instances of someone building a tool that they personally find useful and then making that tool available for free, unsure of what the reception will be and not expecting a lot of users. But if that something does very well and finds a wide audience I think it's natural to try to earn a living from it. And, if the attempts to "monetize" fail (as they often do) and someone is offering a lot of money in a lump sum to take it off their hands, well frankly I think they'd be foolish not to take it. And if that arrangement happens to turn out poorly for the userbase, well hopefully that will be another small object lesson in paying for things you find useful, when politely asked. (And yes, I'm aware that's a lesson that really should have been learned by now, if it was going to be learned at all. Alas.)
  - laurent123456 3y ago
    I think it starts with passion - he created some useful software, he shares it and initially enjoy working on it. Then he puts a donate link (I saw there was a donate link in the previous site), and gets almost nothing, but he still needs to add bug fixes, maybe new features, answer to the user's emails, etc. After a while it becomes a chore... and still getting $0 out of it. And that's when he might want to find other ways to get something out of the efforts he put in. Unfortunately the only option is to turn it into malware since nobody wants to pay for it, or turn it into a decent profitable business.

If the developer is well paid, probably not? Why would they throw away what they built for a lump sum if they have decent side-business and recurrent revenues?

deleted 3y ago
[deleted]
mulmen 3y ago
If I offer you 100 years worth of revenue for your browser extension are you really not going to entertain the idea of selling?
- laurent123456 3y ago
  Sure but they probably won't offer that much. What I mean is that the value of this app, despite being free, is not zero, but that's probably what the developer was getting. So even if he got 10K for it, he's happy and moved on.
  - mulmen 3y ago
    The app originally set the desktop theme to dark mode or not. That’s not worth more than a single one dollar payment, if that. If I want to do some shady app shit I am buying install base. 100x an app that makes a few grand a year could still be worth it for my nefarious purposes.
ohgodplsno 3y ago
Given a sufficient lump sum that guarantees I no longer have to work, my morals can be easily bought.
- deleted 3y ago
  [deleted]
TheRealDunkirk 3y ago
For me, StackOverflow proved that literally everyone has a price. The world is hurtling full-speed towards the corporation-citizenship cyberpunk dystopia people have been writing for years, as every company buys up everything they can in order to stay "competitive."

deciplex 3y ago

Seems like a developer that is getting literally nothing for his app or plugin is more likely to sell it than a developer that's getting some income from it. At the least, the buyer would need to match the current value that the app provides its author.

croes 3y ago
I don't know. A developer who didn't charge anything from the beginning has more likely other motives releasing his software than making money. But if you already make a little money you may easily fall for a lot of money.
- deciplex 3y ago
  I mean, everyone's gotta eat. I think there's plenty of instances of someone building a tool that they personally find useful and then making that tool available for free, unsure of what the reception will be and not expecting a lot of users. But if that something does very well and finds a wide audience I think it's natural to try to earn a living from it. And, if the attempts to "monetize" fail (as they often do) and someone is offering a lot of money in a lump sum to take it off their hands, well frankly I think they'd be foolish not to take it. And if that arrangement happens to turn out poorly for the userbase, well hopefully that will be another small object lesson in paying for things you find useful, when politely asked. (And yes, I'm aware that's a lesson that really should have been learned by now, if it was going to be learned at all. Alas.)
- laurent123456 3y ago
  I think it starts with passion - he created some useful software, he shares it and initially enjoy working on it. Then he puts a donate link (I saw there was a donate link in the previous site), and gets almost nothing, but he still needs to add bug fixes, maybe new features, answer to the user's emails, etc. After a while it becomes a chore... and still getting $0 out of it. And that's when he might want to find other ways to get something out of the efforts he put in. Unfortunately the only option is to turn it into malware since nobody wants to pay for it, or turn it into a decent profitable business.