The ability to change features, prices, and availability of things you’ve already paid for is a powerful temptation to corporations.

  • grue@lemmy.world
    link
    fedilink
    English
    arrow-up
    18
    arrow-down
    1
    ·
    11 months ago

    Yes.

    Well, not literally, both because I’m more inclined to “high five” and you can’t do either gesture over the Internet. But figuratively, yes.

    • ParsnipWitch@feddit.de
      link
      fedilink
      English
      arrow-up
      1
      arrow-down
      17
      ·
      11 months ago

      Why don’t you just gift away your software than? That’s an honest question. You obviously aren’t expecting to be paid for it, do you think in general developers shouldn’t earn money with software or is it just you?

      • grue@lemmy.world
        link
        fedilink
        English
        arrow-up
        20
        arrow-down
        1
        ·
        11 months ago

        Why don’t you just gift away your software than?

        Because I don’t make those decisions; my employer does. They ought to give it away, but they don’t.

        (The software I’ve worked on has tended to be either (a) tools for internal company use or (b) stuff used by the government/large companies where the revenue would definitely have come from a support contract even if the code itself were free.)

          • grue@lemmy.world
            link
            fedilink
            English
            arrow-up
            2
            arrow-down
            1
            ·
            11 months ago

            That question is a red herring. My employer isn’t paying me to write software; they’re paying me to write the software they want instead of the software I want to make.

      • psud@aussie.zone
        link
        fedilink
        English
        arrow-up
        9
        arrow-down
        1
        ·
        11 months ago

        The writer whose article is the subject of this post releases his books without DRM. He ends his podcast with a quote encouraging piracy. I found him because of an earlier book he released under a share alike licence

        He has found that piracy increases the reach of his message, and increases his sales

          • CmdrShepard@lemmy.one
            link
            fedilink
            English
            arrow-up
            5
            ·
            11 months ago

            Your question is irrelevant as claiming “you either support 100% paid or you support 100% free distribution” is a false dichotomy.

      • db0@lemmy.dbzer0.com
        link
        fedilink
        English
        arrow-up
        1
        arrow-down
        1
        ·
        11 months ago

        Software developer who gives away my software for free as Free and Open Source Software. I agree with the grand-grand-parent comment.