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

[Richard Gaskin]

Andre Garzia wrote:

> I think the market for Rev and Linux is not an end user market, like selling
> to users but creating custom software for enterprise and organizations and
> all the web stuff such as RevServer.
>
> In the future and Linux gets even more widespread, creating commercial linux
> tools might be a good option. 2D Boy proved that you can sell linux games
> and sell a lot (of course world of goo is a cross platform game, but they
> sold a lot of linux licenses anyway)

Currently, Linux is at the pre-tipping-point stage characterized by this 
catch-22 as a key contributing factor:  end-users want more apps on 
Linux before they switch, and developers want to see more end-users on 
Linux before they deploy.

An example of this dynamic was provided by Steven J. Vaughan-Nichols of 
Computerworld recently:

    Ubuntu wants Adobe, even if Apple doesn't
    ...
    Canonical marketing manager Gerry Carr told me that "in a recent
    survey we did of the Ubuntu User base where we got 32,000 plus
    responses, Adobe Photoshop as a potential application for Ubuntu
    got a 3.52 rating out of 5 being the second most popular
    potential app after Skype."
    ...
    Carr added, "More interestingly 12000 people gave suggestions for
    apps we had not suggested. The Adobe family of products featured
    far and away beyond apps from any other vendor by an enormous
    margin. So, empirically, there will be a very welcome home for
    Adobe of they chose to [move to Linux, no matter] whatever
    individual comments might say.
    ...
<http://blogs.computerworld.com/15991/ubuntu_would_welcome_adobe_to_linux>


For myself, I'm not waiting:

My WebMerge product is already on Linux, and even though we've sold only 
a few copies it's already paid for itself because with Rev it was just a 
checkbox in the Standalone Builder and a few adjustments to paths in my 
code.

For one of my long-term clients we've been collecting "pledges" for 
Linux, offering a form in which they tell us they want a Linux version 
and how many copies they'd be likely to buy once it's available.  This 
app is for the academic market, and as Andre pointed out that's a good 
fit for Linux:  even if only half of the pledges turned into sales, we'd 
sell more than a hundred licenses in the first quarter after release, 
most in bulk license packs of 5 or 10 as is common in academic markets 
as departments standardize on your app.  Needless to say, this Linux 
port is in progress and we've very much looking forward to delivering it 
this summer.

Ken Ray and Trevor are also working on ports of some of their apps, and 
I would expect Trevor's ScreenSteps to do well as it appeals to higher 
ed and will likely get bulk sales from the many universities around the 
world which have at least some departments with disproportionately high 
numbers of Linux installs.

Sure, as with the engines for Mac and Win there are some things that can 
be problematic using Rev on Linux.  But like the Mac and Windows engines 
there's enough working in Rev for Linux to get me going delivering good 
value to our customers today as we also look forward to enhancing those 
versions in the future as the Rev Linux engine gets even better.

I don't expect to get rich from Linux deployments, at least not for 
another few years.  But with a conservative estimated market share for 
Linux on the desktop at more than 1% it's more than enough to pay for 
itself if you're using Rev, and establishes a foothold for your company 
in a community that's as exciting to be a part of as the early days of Mac.

And as we know from the history of technology adoption, the second 
percent won't take nearly as long as the first, and the third will be 
easier still.  After 24 years the Mac has only a 5.4% share; Linux will 
hit half of that sooner than one might think.

Linux isn't going away.  It's getting more and more significant every 
week.  The only thing making it a slow process is the lack of apps - so 
the more we make apps for Linux, the more Linux customers will come into 
the fold to buy them.

And as Andre mentioned, there also are opportunities beyond commercial 
apps: you'd be surprised how many institutions will pay your normal rate 
to deliver apps for them which they give away for free.  One of my most 
recent clients is that sort, and my very first commercial contract in 
1989 was funded by a federal grant.

It's a big, diverse world out there, ripe with a million opportunities 
waiting to be discovered.  For the low cost of a few minutes' time to 
set up an old PC with Ubuntu and click a checkbox in the Rev standalone 
builder, you can diversify your revenue opportunities and have fun doing 
it. :)

--
  Richard Gaskin
  Fourth World
  Rev training and consulting: http://www.fourthworld.com
  Webzine for Rev developers: http://www.revjournal.com
  revJournal blog: http://revjournal.com/blog.irv