Multimedia on MacOS

[Richard Gaskin]

Terence Heaford wrote:

 > I was reading the above blog on LiveCode’s site:
 >
 > http://livecode.com/blog/2014/05/15/multimedia-on-macos/
 >
 > and noted this comment from Richard Gaskin.
 >
 > "Can you describe how this new player helps the process toward
 > similar feature parity for the other 89% of our customers running
 > Windows and Linux?”

I may have overestimated the Mac market share - a quick double-check 
yields:

NetMarketShare:  7.56%
<http://www.netmarketshare.com/operating-system-market-share.aspx?qprid=10&qpcustomd=0>

StatCounter: 8.16%
http://gs.statcounter.com/#os-ww-monthly-201304-201404

Wikipedia: 7.63%
<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Usage_share_of_operating_systems>

Still, given the inherent problems with the data at all three of those 
sites (and most others I've come across) I feel 11% is probably a more 
accurate number.


 > Is it true that only 11% of LiveCode’s user base use Mac?

I wrote "our customers", as opposed to "RunRev's customers".  When it 
comes to market share I'm chiefly concerned about what we can deliver to 
end-users.

After all, with its key advantage being, as Richmond noted, "write once 
run anywhere", it doesn't really matter what platform we develop on.

As with most things in delivering software, what matters most is the 
end-user.


 > What would happen if the use of  LiveCode development on a Mac
 > diminished from 11% to say 1% what would be the incentive for
 > LiveCode to develop for this platform?

Probably very little would change.  Each platform is useful to RunRev in 
its own way:  Windows is where the numbers are, Mac is where the 
educators are, Linux is where the contributors are.

In fact, Linux is a good example here:  even before LiveCode went open 
source RunRev was investing a favorably disproportionate amount of 
resources into that engine's maintenance and enhancement.

If nothing else, the breadth of platform coverage is a critical 
component of LiveCode's value.


 > When all said and done, they are in it for the money.

Aren't we all. :)   Money buys time, and time is the resource that 
allows software to happen.

Even with purely open source projects like the Linux kernel, Mozilla 
Firefox, or the Apache server, maintaining a steady stream of revenue is 
critically important to keep the project running.

-- 
  Richard Gaskin
  LiveCode Community Manager
  richard at livecode.org