On 1/3/2012 8:14 AM, S 'Dis' McCarthy wrote:
Just to add some apps to the list, don't forget the mozilla suite,
Supported by Google, which pays them for every copy of Firefox for being the default search provider.
adobe's client products,
These are simply enablers for their content-creation products. If they didn't have content products (e.g., Acrobat Reader), they couldn't sell their professional products (e.g., Acrobat).
putty, mythtv/xbmc, vlc, etc.
These are all open source apps; there are probably as many reasons for why they exist as there are open source apps. But not all domains can support an open source app -- and one thing that you tend to not find in open-source apps is a really slick UI that everyone finds easy to use.
I use PuTTY and VLC a lot; they're both awesome, but neither feels polished. Not a problem for me, since they do what they're supposed to.
But one thing in common to these is that they're based on a large ecosystem of open source software. Many open source programs solve specific issues very well, but very few do it in such a way that an average end user could handle it. MythTV may be an exception here, but it's a pretty rare exception.
Ubuntu is another notable exception (though it's also far from perfect), but it's being backed by a millionaire and they're still looking for a business model.
I think the key point is that easy-to-use, consumer-friendly apps that are being done out of love or for fame are few and far between. And eventually the author's goals will change and the project will stagnate -- unless it's open source so someone else can pick it up. The (paid) alarm app I use on Android has been neglected for two years by the developer, and it did have an income stream, so even having an income doesn't guarantee support.
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