I’m not quite sure why some cluster of mid-2010’s businesses thought it would be a good idea to give away everything they ever wrote for free, and try to sell a paid version of the very same software. I mean, what kind of magical thinking is that? Why would any reasonable person or, you know, profit-oriented business, pay for something they can get for free? Especially if it is created and supported by essentially the same people (or a reasonable subset of the main contributors or maintainers) who are also trying to sell the same stuff?
Oh, sure, you can put some chrome in the interface, slick it up a bit, but sooner or later, everyone who has ever put down a dollar for the stuff and looked under the hood will eventually realize it’s the same horse (or pig) they can get for free. In fact, if the software is useful enough, and helps them do more business for less cost, they’ll find some expert or other — eventually — to support the free version.
There was a cult belief for a while that customers/users would pay for support and maintenance. Time has told the tale that in real life that the free versions almost always get updates sooner. After all, the users of the free version will update at the drop of a hat, or as soon as they need something, often using the nightly builds if they’re good enough — and they’ll ensure those nightlies are good enough, eventually.
As for paid support, well, as a technical support professional, I can assure anyone who doesn’t know this, that no one — absolutely no one — wants to deal with a software vendor’s support organization. Almost every software vendor ever understaffs, under-trains, under-funds, and under-appreciates good technical support. In fact, tech support is probably one of the least respected, least appreciated, and most profitable parts of any software business.
Developers — and yes, those are the primary users of free software — regard support professionals as ignorant scum not worthy of attention or consideration; after all, it should be obvious that’s a feature not a bug, and why ever would a customer do that? customers should do what developers think, not what’s in the docs. Who reads docs anyway? Emergent systems are predictable, amirite? Actual paying customers assume that every tech support interaction is going to be slow, just like 80% of every tech support interaction.
Technical people at customers, usually operations, are already being shafted in their own business, are already getting the short end of every stick because their developers and business people despise and look down on them, and are over-worked, underpaid, under-staffed, under-trained, under-funded, and there’s always something horribly broken, and they have no idea how to fix it. Relying on some third party is not in the DNA of operations staff, because they’ve seen that movie one too many times already. And besides, isn’t every tech support team staffed by uncaring morons reading from a script? Besides all that, everyone in operations knows just how their tech support and operations teams operate, and how they are treated, and has seen every dodge in the book, and see through every evasion, delay, queue, and practice, and know in their bones they will have to dog the vendor all day every day to get any sort of meaningful update.
Finance and the C-Level hate tech support because it costs so much, is so unproductive, and is always bringing up failures. They’re so negative. Who invited these people to the party? Oh, I guess we have to have somebody to answer the phones and emails and social streams so the big customers don’t leave, but jeez! Can’t I just hire some people off the street to read a script and be done with this circus? Who cares if they leave? We can always hire more. It only took a couple days to train them, amirite?
So, yeah. Mid-size and small users of your software are so gonna pay extra to be treated poorly by your charade of a tech support team. Not. Once they figure out they’ve been scammed, just like every other software vendor with an open source version, they will do almost anything to run the open source version of your software. Oh, sure, the top 10 or 20 customers will be just fine, because the execs will invest in fully supporting them, what with bustling account teams devoted exclusively to them. But every other customer can go rot. At least for now. Until they all go away, or go use the other company’s software (there’s always a competitor — always). Or hate on you on social. Or all of the above. And there goes your brand, and your revenue stream, and the complete justification for all the money you got from investors.
WTF would any smart business design their products in a way that gives away their core business for free-as-in-beer? There’s no money in it. Sure, as a vanity project. But that ship has sailed, and that business model has failed. Much to the detriment of many believers, investors, practitioners, and employees. So just don’t.
Coffee and Fury 