Re: My Experience Selling Free Software

[Lori Nagel]

   I would like to share my experience as a user who reports bugs. I enjoy
   bug reporting, but only if it is productive. I'm not very eager to go
   out of my way to spend the time reporting bugs that will never be
   fixed.  There was a proprietary program I used on GNU/Linux for a
   while, that I even wasted money on at one point.  Some of the bugs took
   an awful long time to fix, others were never fixed at all. It made it
   all feel useless (compound the problems of multiple different versions
   of linux and libraries getting out of date, and of course these
   problems are not in any way exclusive or even remotely caused by
   proprietary software, any significantly complex project with a small
   development team is effected unless they want to install 100s of Linux
   distros and test on them all including ones that have not been released
   yet.  That is why things like flatpak were invented, not to, as some
   people say, promote proprietary software, but rather make complex
   software crafted by small teams viable on a large number of various
   distros.  )
   I've also seen where in some larger freedom respecting software
   projects, users report a lot of bugs but the developer team spends
   their time basically saying. "Okay, nice you found a bug, now go fix it
   yourself, we don't exist for you to order around," or something to that
   effect.  But if they got paid perhaps they would fix the bugs (or
   perhaps not, but maybe if not they shouldn't keep getting paid year
   after year.)   Where I have found bug reporting to be most useful is in
   small teams or even solo developers, when using the latest version from
   the repository. In fact I gave a talk a couple years ago (2019) called
   "The Joy of Bug Reporting.
   >>>>So, with this background of my software and strategy, let me
   explain some psychological effects that happen with the customers. In
   gratis-ware, such as the common type of free software project, users
   will just stop using the software if it doesn't work for them. They
   didn't invest any money into it, and so they don't invest any of their
   own time to ensure they get their money's worth ($0). So, if the
   software doesn't work precisely right for them, they'll just stop using
   it. Or, if another software does something similar but also something
   else, they'll switch without a second thought.
   Yeah, there is defiantly something to that.

   On Monday, September 14, 2020, 12:05:12 PM EDT, Davis Remmel
   <d@visr.me> wrote:
   Hello libreplanet-discuss,
   In my experience very few free software developers sell their work. I
   want to share my experience with selling free software, and why I think
   it's important for developers to realize why it's beneficial, and
   explain the psychological processes that compound to support the
   software _more_ than gratis-ware.
   As background, I've now exclusively developed free software for about 4
   years, and have just began selling it myself. Previously, I developed
   an industrial IoT platform built entirely with free software (real-time
   display of industrial processes, sidestepping proprietary vendors like
   Rockwell). This was not a consumer market, priced very high, and done
   contractually so the users were not casual consumers.
   This week, I released a piece of consumer-level free software, and in
   one week has generated over $500 in sales (45 paying users) from a
   single post on Reddit. As long as sales continue at the current pace
   (they have tapered off, but still making above the poverty limit) I am
   able to pursue writing all the free software I want, independently.
   For some background on why people buy my tool, it's because this
   tablet's manufacturer has crappy software, and there is only one other
   software vendor that also has crappy software. Usually, documents are
   transferred to this tablet via the manufacturer's cloud, but my tool
   transfers documents locally. Also, the manufacturer's software allows
   exporting of a user's documents, but they look like bad photocopies
   (they wanted to keep their pencil shading code proprietary)--my
   software has its own renderer, and produces images that actually look
   like what the tablet's screen shows. Coincidentally, my software
   exports these documents locally (secure), faster (rendered on-PC), with
   higher quality, and lower file sizes. Ergo, my software is plain
   better, and so it fills many consumer needs--this is a huge factor in
   why it sells (not just because its free). With a $12 purchase, I give
   customers 1 year of email support and updates. And, I have written a
   high-quality user manual that I showcase to let users know exactly what
   the software does before buying. My sales pitch is blunt,
   straight-forward, with no bullshit.
   The _bonus_ for customers is that my software is not restrictive. The
   other available clients are incredibly restrictive: one client uses the
   manufacturer's cloud (Google), and the other has typical proprietary
   ToS and charges 3x the price. The GPL lets the users share mine freely
   and spread it around. I don't care if they share copies because I have
   an advertisement for the 1-yr-support+updates in the About pane, and
   who wouldn't want updates and support for $1/month, especially when it
   fills a need in their daily workflow?
   So, with this background of my software and strategy, let me explain
   some psychological effects that happen with the customers. In
   gratis-ware, such as the common type of free software project, users
   will just stop using the software if it doesn't work for them. They
   didn't invest any money into it, and so they don't invest any of their
   own time to ensure they get their money's worth ($0). So, if the
   software doesn't work precisely right for them, they'll just stop using
   it. Or, if another software does something similar but also something
   else, they'll switch without a second thought.
   Two-fold, without charging money, if there is a bug in the gratis-ware
   the user will typically not submit a bug report, or if they try to it
   is locked behind some restrictive interface (a software forge with user
   accounts). The developer is left with no money, and no bug reports. My
   first release contained some blocker bugs (some users couldn't start
   the program) but they paid for it and wanted to get their money's
   worth. I offered support, and virtually all problems were fixed the
   next day with release #2, and my inbox has been pretty quiet since
   (except for payment notifications ;) ).
   To make it easy, I give my customers priority email. This doesn't
   require any account registrations, nothing blocking them from talking
   to me. I've developed a relationship with some of my more-enthusiastic
   customers, and some have offered to be testers; many have given me
   feature requests. In-exchange for testing, I give them perpetual gratis
   updates and support. This one-on-one communication comforts them,
   knowing that there's someone there to help immediately, and that
   _someone_ is the author himself. This personal relationship solidifies
   trust.
   So, if you want to be able to fund development, you have to charge.
   And, if you want to get bug reports, you have to charge---and give
   customers an easy way to do that (direct email to the author is
   convenient). With these bug reports, I make my software better, which
   lets it sell better, which continues the cycle of self-perpetuating
   development.
   Although I choose not to do this (to give a no-cost bonus), I think
   it's entirely possible to charge _more_ for free software. If one
   company sells 'seats' of their software for some $$, why wouldn't a
   customer want to pay a little more for an unlimited number of seats
   in-perpetuity (freedom)? As long as the software is good, fills a real
   need, and comes with support then people will buy it.
   --
   Davis
   [1]http://www.davisr.me/
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References

   1. http://www.davisr.me/
   2. mailto:libreplanet-discuss@libreplanet.org
   3. https://lists.libreplanet.org/mailman/listinfo/libreplanet-discuss