Message
Re: BC Manager 1.0 available now!
2008-03-11 by rpcfender
> But talking about the fact that BC Manager is freeware:
> Maybe some 9 months ago, when I announced that I had started writing
> BC Manager, someone in this group suggested that he'd even be
> interested if I made it shareware. I have never really considered
> this, for several reasons, all amounting to the feeling that it would
> be more trouble than benefit: setting up a method for payment,
> building in a registration method, trying to prevent piracy. Perhaps
> most importantly: I would simply not feel comfortable asking money
> from people I consider, in some abstract way, "my friends".
I've been thinking about this since I opened my mouth and mentioned that themaker4 shouldn't charge for his efforts (Msg #712)
I think perhaps I was wrong.
The thing about 'free' software for me is that, I was going to produce it anyway for my own use, so it isn't a big deal if someone else uses it.
The time it took to code has been paid for by solving a problem I had.
There are other programs I have written for free.
These are ones that, although they are useful for someone, require very little time to produce.
Your situation is somewhat different.
You could have written all the presets you ever wanted with the tools that were available already.
This is not true of many others that find it new or a bit difficult and benefit from the editor.
The code you produced is sizable and clearly has it has taken a long time and skill to produce
Professional musicians are traditionally poor (that's why I learned to code and to design electronic gear that I couldn't afford to buy) which is why I like 'if you can afford to pay something then great, if not then just have fun' and seems the way to go.
Hopefully enough people who can afford it will respond and there will be enough money to justify any new features and the support for everyone.
The open source community is great, but if you need a bug fix or a new feature right now, it is a bit rich to demand that the programmer respond straight away when he/she needs to make some money elsewhere to survive.
Strangely the open source guys do respond very quickly, but that is usually because there is at least a few of them out there.
For a single coder the burden is substantial.
> Relationships between me and the other members in the group would get
> subtly "different". And what about the people who have (in whatever
> way) contributed to the program? Royce for instance, or that German
> guy who wrote the first report on the BCF/BCR's MIDI implementation:
I'm happy for you to charge/get donations to help support this product.
I think you have already been very generous with your excellent BC sysex document.
I don't think this community would feel any different.
> shouldn't they get a share of the profits too?
No. It's public domain info now (to which you have contributed substantially anyway).
> And people might get
> more reluctant to contribute to the program in the future (pointing
> out bugs or making suggestions for new features etc.),
Don't worry, people never get sick of telling you where you went wrong and everyone always wants extra features.
> for in a sense
> they would then become some kind of unpaid employees. Maybe I'm
> exaggerating a bit, but I would find this all a bit unpleasant - so
> that's why BC Manager is free.
I don't think you will make a living from the editor, but it might help you to continue the development/support .
It might enable/encourage you to produce more editors/programs for the BCs and perhaps other gear .
It's clear the Behringer (and other gear manufactures) wont go any farther.
They have an economic imperative that we don't and although it is value adding for their product I see it as becoming 'our' product.
Clearly the Uno FCB1010 is no longer a Behringer product.
Thanks for your efforts (and don't for get the 10% commission we spoke about)
Anyone know how to setup a PayPal Donation ware button? It might be a good new thread to start.
All the best
Royce