Ask HN: In the real world we pay for everything so why not software?
4 pointsby asim11 hours ago5 comments
  • adrianwajan hour ago
    Well, people do things for free because they enjoy it. Maybe there should be a place where developers can list the things they would do almost for free. But then they could solicit payment up front before starting work. So just as http://weargustin.com is for clothes, something like that for software. Then, the "pledgers/pre-funders" can get privileges once built: maybe even exclusive access.

    There's also a similar crowd-funding idea here: https://reddit.com/r/oasisnetwork/comments/1py9cah/app_idea_... but releasing the funds is more discretionary and happens after delivery, with the work being more externally instigated - as opposed to passion projects just looking for buy-ins.

  • mrkeen10 hours ago
    You pay the carpenter for his time and materials. The same thing could be true of software development.

    But instead you buy a table from Apple and it's only compatible with chairs from Apple. So you can't pay your local carpenter for repairs or better chairs.

    Anyway, the big companies have long since realised it's more lucrative to stop selling the furniture and rent it out instead.

    What do you build?

    • asim9 hours ago
      I wrote https://go-micro.dev - A go framework for microservices. I've written a few other things in my time (https://github.com/asim) and tried my hand at hosted paid APIs which was moderately successful but failed as a VC funded business. I think I've just existed so much in an era of free consumer services like Google and open source software that it's skewed my perspective a lot. Like why charge for this, it could be free..m
      • mrkeen9 hours ago
        So you walked out of the free carpentry store holding Linux, a Go compiler, Git, etc. and now you're looking to build stuff to sell to other carpenters! Non-carpenters don't need microservice frameworks or app platforms. Plus carpenters know they can usually get the stuff for free anyway - they were just in the same store as you!

        Have a think about the relative sizes of the carpenter market vs. the non-carpenter market.

        0.5% of humans are devs, but 70% of humans have internet. 70-90% of internet users have made an online purchase. (I assume these AI slop answers are at least in the ballpark)

        (Anyway I really don't have a head for business, so don't take my advice. I just like programming on and off the clock and I get a salary for it)

        • asim6 hours ago
          No thank you for that example at least because I feel like I got hit in the face with a big fish. Of course trying to sell to other carpenters is mistake! Unless it's really refined tools they need, not the stuff you built with them. I guess the framework was a tool Devs need but I could never sell it...

          Now carpenters selling to regular people. Ok finally my brain clicks. Take the easy route. Sell to people who don't code and help them win. Then it's about specialisation I guess. You could build anything, maybe there's a focus area. I did build https://mu.xyz but yet to figure out that user demographic.

          Thanks for the thought experiment

  • JohnFen8 hours ago
    It doesn't have to be all one or the other. I produce both commercial and free software. I produce commercial software to make a living. I produce free software to contribute to making the world a little bit better.
  • german_dong10 hours ago
    Many reasons:

    1. Internet has made distribution frictionless. So unlike giving out Uber trips, giving out code costs you nothing.

    2. You have a real job. The "80% time" for which you're paid subsidizes the self-promotional work you do for free, and let's not kid ourselves: most of us write open-source not out of altruism but for the recognition.

    3. Software is immediately useful. Lawyering is a lot like programming in that both involve putting pen to paper in just the right way. But pro bono legal work is a lot more painful than whipping up some code. Lawyers have to deal with people and all their bs.

    4. Software is easy. I don't know why but the return on capital blows away the return on labor. Whereas Microsoft may have once derived most of their profit from software, they've now come around to the rest of the tech industry which is selling hardware and compute -- the software that comes with it is included.

  • bigyabai11 hours ago
    Software is a zero margin commodity, not because it costs nothing to produce but because it can be reproduced infinitely for free. That's why even copywritten/"paid" software like music and video games ultimately end up being free too.
    • makapuf10 hours ago
      But then music, movie and other intellectual productions are everything but free, and AI is sharply shunned whereas code is not. Why ?