this post was submitted on 03 Aug 2023
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Sync for Lemmy
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This post lead to me to send 20 USD to the Jerboa/Lemmy devs.
Happy to hear that, these devs need to eat too right
They need to earn more than the dev of sync who don't split the revenue with the Lemmy dev and the instances. The split of the revenues is fair for everyone. Lemmy devs, instances and Sync dev receive something for their work.
He is literally making money on the back of the people donating. Without these donator his business doesn't make any sense and wouldn't exist.
I am pretty sure some of his revenue goes to lemmy and instances because it isn't a full free app
Based
I hope the dev donates a fair share...
"Adding" ads to a FOSS service is pretty sinister especially if it only cost $3.99/year to remove them from the Sync for Reddit app.
Lemmy could use some white hat bug hunters to find security vulnerabilities before malicious actors do, like Mozilla helping patch Mastodonβs TootRoot.
No one is adding ads to Lemmy. Sync only puts ads in itself. It's pedantic but it's important to get it right.
Reddit had considerably more users when Sync was created- so smaller amount per person over larger user base would pay for the bill.
With Lemmy, user base isnβt there yet to create that same economies of scale - so to pay for the devβs time - each person would need to pay a larger amount.
You can't compare Reddit and Lemmy. They are different with a different model. Lemmy rely on donation. Reddit has ads and investors.
The dev of Sync did money with Reddit but Reddit had a source of revenue.
Lemmy relying on donation doesn't have this source of revenue. This is why splitting the revenue of Sync between Lemmy's devs, instances and Sync's dev is fair.
If someone donate to the Lemmy's devs and/or instances, this person allows the sync's dev to make money on this donation. This isn't fair.
The sync model with Lemmy is predatory at best and parasitic at least.
80% of the app is the same. It's not like he spent years creating a new app from scratch. I'm not saying he doesn't deserve compensation but I feel like he's being a bit gougey in this situation.
I mean that's literally how business works - amount needed to be profitable / number of customers = base price.
Reddit had millions of users, lower price per person.
Not to mention the literally free version!
@1ird @chargingtriceratops Regional pricing hasn't been set up yet, but he plans to make a single time purchase option in the future, and set up Regional pricing
Here's hoping it all shakes out in the end.
I'm pretty sure he had to rewrite all of the code related to network and the API, and that's not little work. Thats weeks worth of work including testing
Have you considered people are mad because:
Same purchase was a lot cheaper when it was Reddit.
Reddit already ran ads, so having an app who ran ads of its own was fine.
Monoteizing a FOSS project in a way that doesn't help the maintainers of that project may not be seen as ethical.
Having a subscription for features that don't cost anything to serve (highlighting users can be done locally for instance) might feel like an artificial limitation to drive sales.
The fact that it launched with both a transaction (not a small one, as it costs more than any non-professional app I bought) and a subscription service in literally the first beta of the app.
Combination of these with all the alternatives being all-free (both in price and as in freedom) might make people think few times before paying for this app.
Personally, I really dislike the price, find subscription meh but I absolutely adore Sync's UX. But honestly, without few things changing, I don't see myself recommending Sync to friends.
My thoughts about your first few points:
I, and many others it seems, think the Sync for Reddit app was priced almost too low. Only a few dollars for an app isn't sustainable for the dev in the long run. I believe people using reddit sync with ads actually supported the dev more than people buying the app.
The reddit API was free, so it technically didn't have ads if you used some ad-free (FOSS) 3rd party app. Sync for lemmy isn't any different in that sense.
Sure, the lemmy devs and instances also need money to run the service. People are free to and should donate to them as well. Sync for lemmy, however, isn't costing instances any more than FOSS apps.
The rest of your points are just personal preference, really. If you like the app, buy it or use it with ads. If you don't like the app, use something else. Honestly surprised by how much hate an app no one is forcing people to use is getting.
Well said and reasoned. The vitriol above however, not so much. [Edit] Spelling.