In the stacking the
[2022-02-10 04:42:30 PM] : In the stacking the bricks article of products for developers, one listed is libraries, with the example of rails kit. Has anyone here actually sold a library this way and marketed it using the system of e bombs and whatnot?
1 Reply
[2022-02-10 04:54:23 PM] : do you have a specific question besides "has anybody here done it?" we absolutely some alumni who have done it, though I'm not sure that many of them are active in the chat.
[2022-02-10 05:11:04 PM] : Sure! I’m having trouble finding examples to get an idea of what is entailed hence the vagueness
• I’m wondering at licensing, I’m familiar with open source licensing, but much less so with proprietary. I’m wondering what it entails, what normal things are considered, things like that,
• What does enforcement look like? Is it sufficient to cut off access to updates via a package manager? Are people often entangled into legal battles?
• How does marketing work? Tbh the endeavor seems a little one note: solve this problem and you're done. Very different from the knowledge content marketing I see in this community a lot where maybe one moves from one specific problem to another specific problem.
[2022-02-10 05:25:05 PM] : I have done something sufficiently close to answer first point. I paid lawyer to write a license based on teh business model I decided on (at this point converged to "you can use it unlimited within org, but can't share it elsewhere", but that's tied to the specific nature of thing. for some things "redistribute binary as part of application you sell" might be it). good lawyer with relevant experience will know how to deal with it.
[2022-02-10 05:25:17 PM] : second point: I do zero enforcement.
[2022-02-10 05:25:45 PM] : occasionally I have refunded money if e.g. it's business I don't want to sell to, and I just rely on them not to use it. if they do, not worth my time.
[2022-02-10 05:28:54 PM] : you can look at https://tailwindui.com/ as example of somewhat similar licensing model to the one I use for this product, just much more successful
[2022-02-10 05:31:29 PM] : their marketing is "we gave you this other thing for free, now pay for something built on top of it that will save you time". mine is "here is educational material on how to solve problems X, Y, Z manually, or you can buy this thing that solves it for you much more quickly since it's already implemented"
[2022-02-10 05:47:21 PM] : Thanks! That’s really helpful.
[2022-02-11 08:30:19 AM] : Camilo Payan yes I've something similar to itamar as a lead magnet on an eBomb:
I’ve also put together an optional spreadsheet that will save you some time but it is by no means required. All the information you need is provided.Everything they need to build the spreadsheet is there. All the logic. Even some of the trick formulas. They can build themselves using this or just pick up my done for them version for free. I then have another "advanced" version that does even more which they can buy - again with a discount for being on my newsletter. This and one other tool along similar lines is by far my most successful onboarding ramp for people to join my list. On the enforcement. It is an excel sheet. I know people who've built stuff to check licences etc but I use this "fair use licence" and rely on the fact a) not everyone knows everyone, b) the people who will buy from me are likely to respect being trusted, c) its good marketing if your stuff is pirated, d) they might share this but still buy something else, e) not everyone can afford the same thing. It's a totally valid question you have. Hope these experiences / perspectives help. It certainly took me quite a while to "let this stuff go" in my head - because its valuable. But, for me, it is about the bigger picture and long game around building an audience who trust and appreciate the help I'm trying to give them. :blush: [2022-02-11 09:38:58 AM] : Thank you! That’s really interesting I'm gonna have to chew on these a bit [2022-02-14 02:48:32 PM] : One of the big library licensing models is sidekiq-- they’re a good example of a rails gem that they monetize. I also use a local proxy (not really a library, more of a tool) called Charles that has a free and paid verion. One of the tricks you can use is a dirty ol GPL license for your open source library, and an MIT license for a fee. [2022-02-21 02:03:53 PM] : I know this is a week late, but would love to chat about ^ (selling MIT license for your OS app/library for a fee). I have an existing OS app licensed under the GPL and am interested in licensing it to businesses with a less strict license [2022-02-21 06:35:05 PM] : I know I’ve seen it done in certain libraries, and I know my last gig had an ultimatum from corporate that anything with GPL in it is getting kicked out immediately. [2022-02-21 06:35:54 PM] : As an aside, I’m trying to think of the ruby gem last year where the developer pitched a fit at his unpaid support burden and slapped a GPL on his (common low-level) library, which set the rails world ablaze for a couple days. [2022-02-21 06:44:56 PM] : Ah, I remember now:
shared-mime-info went GPL for a couple days and made everybody’s life irritating.
Regardless, the hard part there would be figuring out who to contact about licensing. If some shop has interest in your library and wants a corporate license, especially if they’ve already done the integration work, I think coughing up some dough would be an easy decision to make.