Re: Catnip and Quanta

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Re: Catnip and Quanta
by Eric Laffoon on Tuesday 22/Apr/2003, @16:56

> If Quanta were sold at $5 a copy you wouldn't have got the current user base by far. There's a difference between knowing the path and walking the path. Go figure :)

True, but forgetting the logistical licensing issues and my personal convictions it does server to illustrate how far afield the commercial model is when competative packages go for $50-$500. Giving away version 1 of a piece of software to get the user base and charging $20 for a lifetime upgrade could yield more revenue than $50 and $35 for each upgrade. The current model is based on small market penetration and hoping to strike it rich with a big hit. It's not just M$ that is promoting free software by broken assumptions.

BTW since Quanta can be updated by XML, any scripting language and Kommander dialogs it essentially would not be able to sell upgrades as it's user extensible. These are other design considerations that commercial software vendors can't afford because it weakens their posture to get more money from their best market, existing customers.

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Re: Catnip and Quanta
by Roberto Alsina on Tuesday 22/Apr/2003, @18:17

Make it shareware. IT is legal, you know ;-)

Ok, it is not legal to say "use it for 30 days or register", but a copyright notice (and donation request) on startup would not be out of line, and would be covered by the GPL as not removeable, IMVHO.

In fact, I have been meaning to do that, just to see if RMS finally blows a fuse ;-)

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Re: Catnip and Quanta
by Eric Laffoon on Tuesday 22/Apr/2003, @18:42

> Make it shareware. IT is legal, you know ;-)

Oh common... give me a break. I was just trying to illustrate a point about commercial software.

> Ok, it is not legal to say "use it for 30 days or register", but a copyright notice (and donation request) on startup would not be out of line, and would be covered by the GPL as not removeable, IMVHO.

Hmmm... we have a donation menu item in the help menu. I'm betting it's been sanitized in at least Red hat. Including it in the copyright notice and flashing it at startup had not occured to me. ;-)

> In fact, I have been meaning to do that, just to see if RMS finally blows a fuse ;-)

Oh yes... I can see you doing this. ;-) Please make sure I have a seat for the festivities. ;-)

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