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Posted by tightbeam
Nov 26, 2018 at 02:00 PM
If he can’t handle it, he could always open source it. That’s the ideal exit strategy for developers who can no longer maintain their software. Of course it almost never happens.
The point I made is that it’s important for prospective customers to have *all* the facts, including those of Eduardo’s occasional disappearances and his less-than-stellar record at handling tech support requests, or even general questions about his software. For some, it’s not a big deal to spend $40 on relatively mature software that seems to work well; for others, a non-responsive developer is a deal breaker.
There’s no right or wrong here; just a moral responsibility of full disclosure, because the guy *is* charging money for his software, and if we can’t “apply [to him] the [usual] expectations for presence and support”, then he ought to mention that somewhere on his “buy now” page.
Paul Korm wrote:
I’m with Dr. Andus and Steve Z on this. It is extremely difficult for
>a sole-practitioner developer to create and maintain a robust
>application over the long term. When we buy apps made by a single
>person, we cannot apply the expectations for presence and support that
>we apply to firms like OmniGroup etc. Additionally, Eduardo has had
>personal misfortunes, reported here, his forum, and elsewhere, that in
>my view earn him a lot of slack and patience.
>
>(BTW, if I recall correctly, the CT forum doesn’t require a license,
>just registration. Like all other forums.)
Posted by Graham Rhind
Nov 26, 2018 at 02:19 PM
I have to agree with tightbeam. You’re assuming that anybody who buys the software knows that it’s written and supported by one person and can take account of this. That’s not the case. There’s nothing on the website that states that it’s a one man band, nothing that tells you that bugs won’t be fixed, that support requests won’t be answered, that access to the forum won’t be provided and so on. What has annoyed me about this case, and others, is the lack of transparency. I expect honesty from any retailer, large or small, so that I can make an informed choice. Whilst I understand that nobody would want to put people off buying their software by making the situation clear, that’s what I expect.
So, whilst I use CT and appreciate it’s value, it’s not bug-free and there’s no guarantee (or even likelihood) that it will be reincarnated if it suddenly stops working. If Eduardo is back with us, that’s great, but considering the past absences, I’m starting to move to other software.
Paul Korm wrote:
I’m with Dr. Andus and Steve Z on this. It is extremely difficult for
>a sole-practitioner developer to create and maintain a robust
>application over the long term. When we buy apps made by a single
>person, we cannot apply the expectations for presence and support that
>we apply to firms like OmniGroup etc. Additionally, Eduardo has had
>personal misfortunes, reported here, his forum, and elsewhere, that in
>my view earn him a lot of slack and patience.
>
>(BTW, if I recall correctly, the CT forum doesn’t require a license,
>just registration. Like all other forums.)
Posted by MenAgerie
Nov 26, 2018 at 06:27 PM
tightbeam wrote:
After his long silence, he has a ways to go (and a lot of code to write)
>before he earns back the trust of his customers, potential or otherwise.
>
Have some compassion people. He has clearly been through some trying times in the real world!
Posted by Gorski
Nov 26, 2018 at 11:40 PM
MenAgerie wrote:
>Have some compassion people. He has clearly been through some trying times in the real world!
Before condemning Eduardo, keep in mind that he was in a bicycle accident last year that required surgery and immobilized his arm for at least three months. He may have had complications we don’t know about. He’s basically resuming the work on CT he had promised before the accident.
http://connectedtext.com/forum/index.php/topic,3461.msg16723/topicseen.html#msg16723
Posted by Dr Andus
Nov 26, 2018 at 11:45 PM
tightbeam wrote:
>If he can’t handle it, he could always open source it. That’s the ideal
>exit strategy for developers who can no longer maintain their software.
>Of course it almost never happens.
Indeed. And that raises the next question. Would you prefer that instead he stopped selling the software and took his website and forum offline?
I’d prefer if developers of abandoned software kept making it available to those interested, rather than making them inaccessible to the world.
There is an argument to be made that certain pieces of very well-made software belong to the intellectual history of the world, rather than to their makers, like great books or works of art.
E.g. the owner of Natara Bonsai, another software that I love, has decided to pull the website and stop selling licences. It is a fully functioning software that continues to work perfectly well, if you’re lucky enough to own a licence.
I constantly get emails through my blog from people trying to find out how they could buy a licence. The two blog posts that contain instructions on where to download the software from (answer: the Internet Archive) have so far been visited around 5000 times since 2014. I get people looking for it daily.
It’s a pity that the owner has decided to deny the world access to his work, and a lot of people have been frustrated in their attempt to get access to it.
So I’d say Eduardo is being kind that he continues to make his software available and I hope he is not being put off by this thread.
I do understand the point about managing expectations of prospective customers or that it might be frustrating not to get support if you based your business on this software.
But great programmers are not always the best salespeople or the greatest of marketers or the best customer service reps, as those are different skills.