Yes, but how many "popular" proprietary programs failed? If a proprietary program becomes popular for whatever reason, there is a well-understood potential for the author(s) to be rewarded for their effort. Granted, they may make some stupid decisions about marketing, pricing, distribution deals, etc, but in general they have a well-worn path to follow to gain financial rewards.
With free software, even if it becomes very popular, there's still a big question mark beside the infamous "Step 3." (yeah, i hear the guy in the back yelling "Service & Support!! Service & Support!!")
There's a built-in Catch-22 -- it's easier to make money off of propreitary software if lots of people want to use it, but it costs a lot of money to convince them that they do.
With free software, it doesn't cost anything to get people to try and like a new project, but it can be very difficult to figure out a way to make money on the back end of a popular project. (and i don't need a list of the eternally popular free mass-market applications that have gone on to make some money for some of their developers -- that list never changes)
So, don't blame a failed business on proprietary software either...failed businesses usually all have one thing in common, bad business decisions.
Has anyone had any experience with SimDesk or know anything about it?
Despite their fancy moving menus and weird text animation in the status bar (isn't that a FrontPage thing?), the home page has no . I guess that's not a given when working in FP.
I'd really like to see a web-based word processor (text areas don't count).
Slashdot Mirror
www.imagedupeless.com
dupelessly a weird name, but functional nonetheless.
Yes, but how many "popular" proprietary programs failed? If a proprietary program becomes popular for whatever reason, there is a well-understood potential for the author(s) to be rewarded for their effort. Granted, they may make some stupid decisions about marketing, pricing, distribution deals, etc, but in general they have a well-worn path to follow to gain financial rewards.
With free software, even if it becomes very popular, there's still a big question mark beside the infamous "Step 3." (yeah, i hear the guy in the back yelling "Service & Support!! Service & Support!!")
There's a built-in Catch-22 -- it's easier to make money off of propreitary software if lots of people want to use it, but it costs a lot of money to convince them that they do.
With free software, it doesn't cost anything to get people to try and like a new project, but it can be very difficult to figure out a way to make money on the back end of a popular project. (and i don't need a list of the eternally popular free mass-market applications that have gone on to make some money for some of their developers -- that list never changes)
So, don't blame a failed business on proprietary software either...failed businesses usually all have one thing in common, bad business decisions.
ok. i'm a newbie. i didn't realize it'd strip the TITLE tag out, but that's what i meant. no TITLE tag.
Has anyone had any experience with SimDesk or know anything about it?
Despite their fancy moving menus and weird text animation in the status bar (isn't that a FrontPage thing?), the home page has no . I guess that's not a given when working in FP.
I'd really like to see a web-based word processor (text areas don't count).