3 ms·

Good counterpoint. I work on open source too. I'm just questioning the god of free lately.

• Silhouette 12y ago
  I have a lot of similar concerns, but I think the challenge is that just a few of us being willing to pay for our software/web sites is insufficient to overcome the momentum that ad-based models now have. There need to be enough people willing to pay that going ad-free becomes a credible business case and/or enough people routinely using ad-blockers that relying on ads becomes commercially unattractive and alternatives are more readily considered. Neither has happened yet, though I remain optimistic that both will improve with time. Look at how the music and TV/movie industries have responded to piracy: amongst all the bitching and moaning and laughable claims of losses, there are a few big success stories, and all of them involve offering content to customers at much more realistic price points and with an emphasis on easy access one way or another. (Disclosure: I am involved in running several web sites, some of which do not include ads and instead fund their original content by charging for access. Those same sites often advertise via the big on-line ad networks, and do take advantage of the basic demographic targeting that they offer, but we draw the line at using some of the more sophisticated and effective techniques offered by those networks because we have moral reservations about the underlying creepiness.)