Stefan Küng <tortoisesvn_at_gmail.com> wrote on 11.03.2008 14:22:28:
> I think I asked the wrong question last time. Of course you're all
> against bundling anything with TSVN. Heck, I remember people complaining
> that we 'bundled' TortoiseMerge. And considering that I was asking about
> bundling something *unrelated* to TSVN I should have known your answer.
>
> So, let me rephrase the question:
> Assuming we would include some commercial toolbar in the TSVN installer
> (*not* spy/mal/adware, so stop calling it that) and that the
> installation of the toolbar would be optional: would you stop using
TSVN?
Hew .. I know that you are looking for a way to make a living
out of the immense work you already put into this project. So,
if you find some of the following statements blunt or offensive,
I honestly want to apologize up-front.
From my point of view, distributing such SW like toolbars
doesn't constitute a valid business case:
(1) You are helping *them* collecting *their* money. Rest assured
that this will be substantially more money than they will give you.
With an estimated user base of much less than 1 mio potentially
customers you are just too unimportant to negotiate.
(2) The overall effort of handling that business must be considered.
I don't think your time is worth much less than 100 SFr/h gross.
If you are lucky they will give you just as much to compensate for that.
(3) In my company, nonessential software usually gets blacklisted.
Due to certain compatibility issues that also (still?) includes GDS.
So, there is a certain risk that newer versions of TSVN itself could
be considered "malware" - not in my company but other places may
have much more restricted policies.
(4) My personal income is in part bound to intimate knowledge
of SVN and TSVN. Lowering the reputation of those tools will
sooner or later reflect in my raises, bonuses etc. After, say,
5 years that net loss would certainly exceed 1000€. Annually.
Maybe that's the reason behind the "I'd rather pay you *not* to ..."
statement.
(5) However kindly we may ask the user to have a look at that
commercial toolbar, it will certainly annoy important people
like opinion leaders.
Bottom line: while the offer may sound tempting for you it
will not be the worth the hassle even for you.
On the other hand, my company strictly follows commercial licensing
conditions (see WinZIP, for instance). That is one reason for (3).
If TSVN would "strongly suggest" to pay for commercial use,
there will certainly be some budget.
That brings me to the question of how the money should be used.
(1) I think personal donations to you or Lübbe are fine. They are
a way to say "thank you" to you individually.
(2) Commercial fees should go to a separate account. From
that all technical expenses (hosting etc.) should be covered.
Indirectly, this saves you just that money.
(3) If there is excess income, I'd rather see some of it (<1k€)
being spent on small "community events". Could be an informal
"get together" at someone's place, for instance. It might also be
a step for you in creating real business contacts.
(4) If there should be even more money, agree on how to
distribute it. It's certainly to early to discuss that right now.
I, personally, don't want a share of it unless it would be
a real fortune (highly unlikely).
> P.S. Some of you might want to take a look at this:
> http://thedailywtf.com/Articles/13-It-Pays-Money.aspx
I think most people, especially students, know what it means
to get the money one needs to pay the bills. IT professionals
will also know what it *costs* to earn money.
Back to how you could make money out of TSVN. Short answer:
Go consulting. Long answer:
(1) You are undeniably the key developer for TSVN. Without
you, we may just keep up with the SVN development while not
having the resources to improve the tool. That puts you into
an exquisite bargaining position.
(2) If someone wants a feature / extension in TSVN, you are
the only one who can actually guarantee that it will become
part of TSVN for good. While a few other committers might
try to do the same, only a much smaller range of changes
would be accepted.
(3) There are lots of enhancements that would be useful for
my company, for instance. But I just don't have the time
and / or appetite to do them right now. I'm sure that there
are "enough" other companies in a similar position.
(4) Version control is strongly linked to processes. Changing
processes or switching tools is an expensive and time-critical
undertaking. If they hire you, they get *their* requests
considered *now*.
(5) SVN-related consulting earns really good money
(>1k€/day pre-tax).
(6) Start TSVN Inc. and put a reference to it into TSVN
(e.g. Installer, About box). I can hardly think of an
easier market entry.
Personally, I wouldn't want to run my own company because
I already have a large degree of freedom, good pay and mainly
because I don't want to waste time on things I'm not good at
(bureaucracy).
If you want to give it a try - go for it! The outlook
is excellent. Just don't start by trying to swim with
the sharks (a.k.a ad companies) ...
-- Stefan^2.
Received on 2008-03-11 16:54:08 CET