Just to add some apps to the list, don't forget the mozilla suite, adobe's client products, putty, mythtv/xbmc, vlc, etc. (Leaving google apps out on purpose, since you could make a case either way for those. Ditto for enterprise apps like tomcat, nagos/icinga, databases, etc.) There are a lot of examples of free long-term supported end-user apps.
I think the bigger problem is what Kevin said - quite a few of the ad providers are trashy. That is where disclosure comes in. Privacy policies, explanations of the permissions, etc. As much as I am a fan of free software, I agree that if a dev wants to monetize their app that is up to them. I'll make the same decision with an ad-supported app that I make with a paid app - if its worth it for the price, I get it. If not, I don't.. (And not just ads - for example, the siri-like Iris app has to have access to half of everything to work, but the most recent update says "earn points for using it." They added some sketchy advertising/data-harvesting network but no privacy policy or anything beyond that one statement in the changelog.) On Fri, Dec 30, 2011 at 11:42 PM, John Coryat <[email protected]> wrote: >> In general yes but not impossible as something can be free and >> supported. > > For an OS, language or open source product, that is true. For an app, not > true. How many times has a user of a game for instance, contracted the > designer to add a feature? I'll bet that is close to zero. Even if that did > happen, it's not a revenue model but a one-off freak occurrence. > > Apps that have no revenue model will die eventually. An exception to this > might be where the app itself is an advertisement for the company that > produced it. > > -John Coryat > > > > -- > You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups > "Android Discuss" group. > To view this discussion on the web visit > https://groups.google.com/d/msg/android-discuss/-/3ntRX4GdNGEJ. > > To post to this group, send email to [email protected]. > To unsubscribe from this group, send email to > [email protected]. > For more options, visit this group at > http://groups.google.com/group/android-discuss?hl=en. -- You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "Android Discuss" group. To post to this group, send email to [email protected]. To unsubscribe from this group, send email to [email protected]. For more options, visit this group at http://groups.google.com/group/android-discuss?hl=en.
