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Can I offer a more pessimistic view? This is Darwinism. If the author has a seemingly popular and monetisable (sic) product with real users, yet has failed to

Can I offer a more pessimistic view? This is Darwinism. If the author has a seemingly popular and monetisable (sic) product with real users, yet has failed to achieve the state of ramen profitable, then perhaps this is fate. Perhaps he's not able to be at the helm of a product that people would rely on in their production apps. What if the author of this app is unable to run the product successfully and is forced to close it down. What happens to the thousands of users who have integrated his product in their stack? An expensive migration. Loss of profit for them. Perhaps it's better to choose another product that is able to be profitable.

mrtksn 3y ago
>What if the author of this app is unable to run the product successfully and is forced to close it down. That’s why many businesses would not consider a free service or a product. The developer of SQLite sells licenses for his public domain code for this very reason.
- upmostly 3y ago
  True. I knew my comment would be downvoted. Interestingly, one comment above said the author did not release an update in over a year...
  - mrtksn 3y ago
    Maybe your comment comes as a too harsh of a portrayal of the person who provides valuable product or service for free but IMHO from business standpoint its true. If you want money ask for it and I don't mean donations. The strange dynamic where you collect street cred in exchange for your work and expect to be taken care for doesn't work. Even if he finds a job and doesn't need donations, he will be working for people who wanted money and asked for it. It's the same thing with directly asking money for your services but with extra steps where you pay other people for doing the asking.
    - developer93 3y ago
      Is about the knowing the value you're providing
eviks 3y ago
The thousands of users have the power to avoid costly migration via a less costly payment just like Darwin prescribed
- mrtksn 3y ago
  I disagree, there's no contract or expectation of performance with a donation. People who depend on products like paying for that product because this sets expectations.

mrtksn 3y ago

>What if the author of this app is unable to run the product successfully and is forced to close it down. That’s why many businesses would not consider a free service or a product. The developer of SQLite sells licenses for his public domain code for this very reason.

upmostly 3y ago
True. I knew my comment would be downvoted. Interestingly, one comment above said the author did not release an update in over a year...
- mrtksn 3y ago
  Maybe your comment comes as a too harsh of a portrayal of the person who provides valuable product or service for free but IMHO from business standpoint its true. If you want money ask for it and I don't mean donations. The strange dynamic where you collect street cred in exchange for your work and expect to be taken care for doesn't work. Even if he finds a job and doesn't need donations, he will be working for people who wanted money and asked for it. It's the same thing with directly asking money for your services but with extra steps where you pay other people for doing the asking.
  - developer93 3y ago
    Is about the knowing the value you're providing

eviks 3y ago

The thousands of users have the power to avoid costly migration via a less costly payment just like Darwin prescribed

mrtksn 3y ago
I disagree, there's no contract or expectation of performance with a donation. People who depend on products like paying for that product because this sets expectations.