<story><title>On paying for software</title><url>https://seths.blog/2018/06/on-paying-for-software/</url></story><parent_chain><item><author>wazoox</author><text>I use Linux and most free software projects allow donations. I even donated to projects I don&amp;#x27;t actually use, like FreeBSD. I donated money to many free software projects, Ardour, Mozilla, LibreOffice, OpenBSD, etc. This is clearly a false dichotomy.</text></item><item><author>afarrell</author><text>One of the reasons that I switched from Linx to OSX was so that I could pay for more of my software. Why? Because then I more of the software I used could be maintained by someone who had the time to dig into bugs and UI problems and to fix them. But in Linux, couldn&amp;#x27;t I just edit the source myself? Realistically, no. It takes a tremendous amount of effort to source-dive in a totally new project in a language I never use, especially without someone willing to give me a walkthrough of the architecture and fundamental models of the program. It is waaaay more efficient for these to be fixed by an engineer working not in their spare time, but as their full-time job.&lt;p&gt;A developer targeting OSX knows they have an audience of people willing to pay him money so he can spend his whole day doing usability tests and his evening watching a little league game.&lt;p&gt;I do miss strace though.</text></item></parent_chain><comment><author>TimJYoung</author><text>Relying on the good will of others &lt;i&gt;does not work&lt;/i&gt;, period.  The fact that it works sometimes is not something that one can use as the reason to quit their job and start an &amp;quot;endeavor&amp;quot; (you can&amp;#x27;t really call it a business).&lt;p&gt;Can we please dispense with this notion and start realizing one simple fact: people will typically only pay for something if you &lt;i&gt;make&lt;/i&gt; them pay.</text></comment>
<story><title>On paying for software</title><url>https://seths.blog/2018/06/on-paying-for-software/</url></story><parent_chain><item><author>wazoox</author><text>I use Linux and most free software projects allow donations. I even donated to projects I don&amp;#x27;t actually use, like FreeBSD. I donated money to many free software projects, Ardour, Mozilla, LibreOffice, OpenBSD, etc. This is clearly a false dichotomy.</text></item><item><author>afarrell</author><text>One of the reasons that I switched from Linx to OSX was so that I could pay for more of my software. Why? Because then I more of the software I used could be maintained by someone who had the time to dig into bugs and UI problems and to fix them. But in Linux, couldn&amp;#x27;t I just edit the source myself? Realistically, no. It takes a tremendous amount of effort to source-dive in a totally new project in a language I never use, especially without someone willing to give me a walkthrough of the architecture and fundamental models of the program. It is waaaay more efficient for these to be fixed by an engineer working not in their spare time, but as their full-time job.&lt;p&gt;A developer targeting OSX knows they have an audience of people willing to pay him money so he can spend his whole day doing usability tests and his evening watching a little league game.&lt;p&gt;I do miss strace though.</text></item></parent_chain><comment><author>ropeadopepope</author><text>The problem with open source is, for some reason, the developers feel no sense of obligation to the end users or the people who donate to them. MacOS devs do and will go out of their way to make sure their software is not just usable, but a sheer pleasure to use in every way possible. Yes, there are exceptions (I&amp;#x27;m looking at you, Apple, with your Xcode and your Finder) but for the most part that&amp;#x27;s just the way things are in the MacOS app ecosystem.&lt;p&gt;Open source, on the other hand, is like trying to shave with a razor blade with no handle. It&amp;#x27;s a hard sell to get people to donate to projects that they know are going to cut them at some point.</text></comment>