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On 10/07/2015 12:11, Mihovil Stanić wrote:<br>
<blockquote cite="mid:559FA869.6030501@miho.im" type="cite">
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<div class="moz-cite-prefix">10.07.2015 u 12:44, Mark Rousell je
napisao/la:<br>
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<blockquote cite="mid:559FA218.4@signal100.com" type="cite">
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The only way forward to generate significant additional revenue
must surely be some kind of additional product features and/or
associated services. Yes, yes, I know that suggesting this sort
of thing is very nearly heresy but the truth is that people pay
for value (whatever is 'value' to them) and the fact is that
many people perceive 'premium' features of a product to be of
'value' to them. (Of course, what 'premium' means depends on
the product).</blockquote>
<br>
If TB manages to get 150.000€ / year in donation, that would cover
a lof of basic costs.<br>
For 30.000-35.000€ / year sallary (total with taxes) you can hire
programer without much problem in Croatia or probably any eastern
Europe country.<br>
Two of those + 1 manager would probably be enough for start to
keep Thunderbird stable in long run.<br>
</blockquote>
<br>
I agree that €150K pa would be a good start but I don't think that
level of funding or staffing would be sustainable in the longer
term.<br>
<br>
Also, it seems to me that a programmer who proves his worth on a
well known project like TB at a rate €35K pa in Croatia will not
stay on the project long when he will soon be able to earn the
equivalent of €50-70K+ pa elsewhere.<br>
<br>
Also, more than two coders and a manager are needed: QA/testing,
coordination of volunteer input, infrastructure dev/maintenance,
probably marketing, and so on are needed for a long term sustainable
project.<br>
<br>
<blockquote cite="mid:559FA869.6030501@miho.im" type="cite"> For any
signifficant growth/development you need private companies like
Kent's company or FastMail to find their financial interest in
Thunderbird. They don't need to "pay" something to Thunderbird
community, they "just" need to help develop Thunderbird in a way
that helps them earn more and community to get more in same time.</blockquote>
<br>
It seems to me that the trick is to ensure that such third party
development actually helps sustain the core Thunderbird. There is no
automatic reasons why this should be the case. It commonly might be
the case but there is no guarantee of it whatsoever in the current
model. Demonstrably, the current model is *not* successfully funding
core Thunderbird development.<br>
<br>
It seems to me that for the core product to be sustainable in the
longer term, the core community/corporate entity (whether the
"corporate entity" is a commercial company or a
charitable/non-profit organisation) needs to be pushing,
controlling, and as far as possible funding and actively
implementing its direction and development.<br>
<br>
<br>
<pre class="moz-signature" cols="72">--
Mark Rousell
PGP public key: <a class="moz-txt-link-freetext" href="http://www.signal100.com/markr/pgp">http://www.signal100.com/markr/pgp</a>
Key ID: C9C5C162
</pre>
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