Hacker News Reader

Comment by y2bd | Hacker News Reader

If a developer open sourced their application but still charged for the binary on the App Store, would you pay for it?

That's a lot more work on the developer to do that. They're going to get a million unwanted pull requests, code bike shedding, and issues raised. And they're also going to get dozens of people putting their own copies of the same app on the store to try to undercut them.

So why would any sane developer do that? Getting people to spend a few dollars on an app is already no easy feat. Most users think a five dollar app is outrageously expensive.

Yeah. If I don't expect to make changes to the application and only act as a consumer, then it makes more sense economically for me to pay so I can download it and get updates without having to compile it and load it on my device every time.

Also, isn't it nice to help developers that make nice applications, especially when they offer their apps for a reasonable price?

100% yes. We need more nice applications made by indie developers and small agencies. Apps that charge a couple of dollars, or even a modest subscription fee, and don’t harvest their users data, record their screens for marketing purposes, or run the microphone to build an advertising profile.

I don’t understand how, on a forum full of people who build software for a living, there can be so much opposition to this idea.

Most open source enthusiasts get apps from fdroid which does not support paid apps but it does have a donate button on the page. I only use open source and I have donated to the apps I use most.

Reply on news.ycombinator.com