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My rule is that there is no such thing as free-as-in-beer software. (There are exceptions, but they are exceptions.) The developer's bills will get paid one w

My rule is that there is no such thing as free-as-in-beer software. (There are exceptions, but they are exceptions.) The developer's bills will get paid one way or the other. The simplest and most efficient way is to just pay them up front. If you try to get things for "free" both you as the consumer and the developer will end up worse off.

Proleps 13y ago
Most open source/free software(free as in liberty) is free as in beer. It gets payed for by donations and/or big sponsors. It has no hidden costs. Not everything is available as open source/free software, but it is enough have a usable computer and even some games.
- giovannibajo1 13y ago
  The difference is that such software goes through multi-year evolution and usage (be it bash or OpenOffice or kernel) so it makes sense for a company to invest on feature X that's missing for them, and get everything else for free. On the other hand, in the game market, most games are a one-off experience with a very short lifetime (excluding MMO games). So there is no way they could be constructed through subsequent donations and evolutions. Add to this the fact that open source communities are only made of programmers (because they are the ones benefiting most from the network effect and from incremental integration of software components), while games require other kind of professionals. Eg: volunteer designers in OSS world are mostly non existent; most of them are on the payroll of some sponsor.
AJ007 13y ago
Dwarf Fortress, the creator writes you a short story or illustrates a drawing in crayon in exchange for your optional donation. Quite the exception.
- bobjordan 13y ago
  ...and the developer lives on about $35K/year, which is far less than what he could be generating with that franchise.
  - null_ptr 13y ago
    Maybe that's because the creators don't see their work as a "franchise" and are happy to have a vibrant community around their game without needing to milk it dry for money.
philosophus 13y ago
I agree with this. I've been playing Final Fantasy XIV which has a monthly subscription fee. It's refreshing after Guild Wars 2 which was constantly trying to sell you something in the gem store. Unfortunately, I doubt many companies without the name recognition of SquareEnix/Final Fantasy could pull it off though.

Proleps 13y ago

Most open source/free software(free as in liberty) is free as in beer. It gets payed for by donations and/or big sponsors. It has no hidden costs. Not everything is available as open source/free software, but it is enough have a usable computer and even some games.

giovannibajo1 13y ago
The difference is that such software goes through multi-year evolution and usage (be it bash or OpenOffice or kernel) so it makes sense for a company to invest on feature X that's missing for them, and get everything else for free. On the other hand, in the game market, most games are a one-off experience with a very short lifetime (excluding MMO games). So there is no way they could be constructed through subsequent donations and evolutions. Add to this the fact that open source communities are only made of programmers (because they are the ones benefiting most from the network effect and from incremental integration of software components), while games require other kind of professionals. Eg: volunteer designers in OSS world are mostly non existent; most of them are on the payroll of some sponsor.

AJ007 13y ago

Dwarf Fortress, the creator writes you a short story or illustrates a drawing in crayon in exchange for your optional donation. Quite the exception.

bobjordan 13y ago
...and the developer lives on about $35K/year, which is far less than what he could be generating with that franchise.
- null_ptr 13y ago
  Maybe that's because the creators don't see their work as a "franchise" and are happy to have a vibrant community around their game without needing to milk it dry for money.

philosophus 13y ago

I agree with this. I've been playing Final Fantasy XIV which has a monthly subscription fee. It's refreshing after Guild Wars 2 which was constantly trying to sell you something in the gem store. Unfortunately, I doubt many companies without the name recognition of SquareEnix/Final Fantasy could pull it off though.