if the situation is really "nobody will run this software unless i pay them to", then you're doomed regardless. there's nothing wrong with the classic route: pa

if the situation is really "nobody will run this software unless i pay them to", then you're doomed regardless. there's nothing wrong with the classic route: package your software for the stores/distros you're familiar with, make your software as easy to package as humanly possible for anyone else who'll come around, document the hell out of it, submit it to the handful of top-level news feeds from which it'll percolate, and then wait. maybe you don't like waiting?