[Ardour-Users] Could this solve Ardour's financial headache?

[Patrick Shirkey]

sonofzev at iinet.net.au wrote:
>
>     ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
>     Hi Patrick
>
>     While I agree that people should be encouraged to pay  (hence why
>     I subscribe)... I'm definitely not a fan of the ticker....
>
I know a lot of the people on this list would not want it enabled the 
majority of the time if ever. However the idea is aimed at getting the 
people who don't currently contribute but do actively use the app to do so.


>     I'm pretty sure making people pay for a binary compiled without it
>     would breach the GPL. I think it is very important that care is
>     taken not to break GPL license terms.
>
It wouldn't be a separate binary. It would be a License key that you 
input in the config dialog to be able to disable the ticker panel. You 
purchase a one time or yearly payment of say $10 and you get a unique 
key to disable it. I have seen this exact system with the acajoom 
newsletter module for Joomla. Those guys are making lots of cash and 
actively developing and growing their open source software. Of course if 
you subscribe then you get the license key anyway.

>     I definitely would be compiling with the ticker disabled.. and I'm
>     sure on Gentoo systems that would become a standard ebuild pretty
>     quickly defeating the purpose.
>
It might also be an option to compile with the default config setting to 
off. I don't think Gentoo maintainers would actively try to discourage 
developers from making cash but I may be wrong on that.

>     Finally.. I generally stop all network polling apps and monitor
>     style apps (gkrellm) while I am recording to reduce the
>     possibility of xruns.. I am sure that  myself and many others
>     would simply disable their NIC or pull out the cable while
>     recording to stop this intrusive feed. I do not think it is wise
>     to introduce an element that could reduce a persons experience of
>     ardour and make them less inclined to pay. 
>
It would be possible automatically disable it when recording and also if 
the processing demands were high. It could also be an incentive to pay 
for a license to turn be able to disable it if you couldn't compile from 
source your self for whatever reason.


>     (How many people ditch Winzip in favour of another app after they
>     get the intrusive delay at startup at the end of the trial period??)
>

A huge number of windows users have winzip. Much more than Ardour will 
ever see.
>
>
>     If the site is receiving that many hits, then this alone could be
>     incentive to introduce advertising to the site but not the app
>     itself.
>
If we encourage more people to use the site by the ticker method then 
that will also be a way to get more cash into the coffers.



Cheers.


-- 
Patrick Shirkey
Boost Hardware Ltd.