The State of Rev (Was Re: [ANN] Rodeo IDE preview video)

[Lynn Fredricks]

> Linux strikes me as an OS that hit the market too late to tip 
> the scales, and with no real incentive for new developers to 
> invest money into an OS whose reputation was "the OS where 
> you could get free stuff". I think that Open Source, while a 
> great and very successful approach in terms of community, 
> works contrary to itself in that developers do not want to 
> invest in a market where people who charge for software are 
> rather resented. 
> 
> I know I am going to get lots of responses from all the Linux 
> people. I apologize in advance. But if my opinion is worth 
> anything, I would say let Runrev focus on IDE's and engines 
> for OS'es with a demonstrable hold on existing markets. 

Linux as a "market" is still evolving - I don't think tipping works the same
way with it, and that in itself is a frustration to those who were banking
that it would. Linux absolutely has a place, and there are many ways to make
money off of it. I just think making money from Linux requires a different
sort of focus than what many are used to.

As a desktop OS, its coming along at its own pace and Ubuntu is looking
better and better. In fact, I think Android in the market will help Linux,
too, because it demonstrates that there are alternatives to Mac OS and
Windows.

Runrev cannot drop Linux without seriously damaging the promise of cross
platform development, and that would reduce overall sales.

Ive sold a lot of software over my 20 odd years in the industry. One
phenomenon I am aware of is the Mac Mirage. For example, in some markets,
you'll see a jump in the sales of Windows products if there is a Mac version
available too. The number of units of Mac product sold may be significantly
less than Windows, but there are Windows units sold BECAUSE there is Mac
version. The absense of the Mac version would reduce sales; looking at
overall sales then means the Mac version deserves more consideration than
just looking at the number of units sold.

I think if anyone is looking solely at Linux IDE (as in Rev Studio for
Linux) sales, then they would be missing the point. There are a lot of free
tools for developing on Linux, and that makes it very challenging to sell
IDEs on Linux. A different sort of sales model could be built around a
RevServer/On-Rev.

Best regards,

Lynn Fredricks
President
Paradigma Software
http://www.paradigmasoft.com

Valentina SQL Server: The Ultra-fast, Royalty Free Database Server