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

[Jamie McLaughlin]

> Once Ardour 3 gets into Aplha stage, I will try to move all my (amateur)
> studio work to Linux/Ardour. I really need midi support in my DAW, so the
> current (stable) version of Ardour is useless to me.
> 
> I (and I guess a lot of other users) don't like to pay for software I don't
> use... This might be 'the wrong way' but it's reality.

Actually, the 'reality' of Free Software is incompatible with your
approach. In the case of proprietary software, development is funded by
private interests in the expectation that they can sell the finished
product to recoup their investment. From the perspective of an end user,
you don't have to pay until the software is finished and available. It
is the "Buy Now, Get Now" model, and it is obviously what you would prefer.

But Free Software cannot work like this. When it is finished it will not
belong to anybody and cannot be expolited in the same ways as
proprietary software. Therefore the community must fund development. By
funding Ardour now, what you are 'buying' is the future existence of the
version you need. It is the "Buy now, Get Later" approach. But because
the software is freely downloadable, usable and modifiable, and its
development is driven by what the community needs and not what will help
a private company 'monetize' the community, what you end up with is in
fact far more valuable, and a far wiser investment.