🚀 go-pugleaf

In article <ZOO.91Jul15233441@grumpy.spa.umn.edu> zoo@aps1.spa.umn.edu (david d [zoo] zuhn) writes:
>your income, at least if I were to do something like this.  I'd make
>the software available for FTP/UUCP/etc and I think most users would
>get it this way.
Far more than half of the Unix market has no access to either FTP or
UUCP.  The fastest growing segment of Unix is in the business marketplace.
If you are going to use FTP/UUCP distribution then you are pretty much
guaranteed not to be restricting your market (and income) considerably.
When you leave the (ftp it from...) marketplace you instill an whole
new set of incredibly large costs.  You now need to do packaging and
mailing (probably in the range of $20 to $50/shipment).  You need to
do PR to let customers know about the product (figure $30-100K/year).
You need to sign up third party distributors (figure a full time job
for someone just to make the contacts, plus about $1000/month in
lawyers fees, minimum).  Now, given that, what should I charge for
support?  (Remember, take into account that some user's won't want
it, so the others will have to make up for it.)

Cygnus does support this way, and you know what?  Their rates are
so high that I can't afford it.  You can probably get away with that
kind of fee for development tools, I don't think you can for end-user
apps.
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I'm not sure which upsets me more: that people are so unwilling to accept
responsibility for their own actions, or that they are so eager to regulate
everyone else's.