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<blockquote class=" cite" id="mid_55A51260_8060507_libertytrek_org"
cite="mid:55A51260.8060507@libertytrek.org" type="cite">
<pre wrap="">Is there any reason we can't do multiple models?</pre>
</blockquote>
that's what I mean - but design it in a way to have more than 0.05 %
adoption rate. That is make a "paid version" so attractive that it
can finance Thunderbird's future.<br>
<br>
One can go on all day about the "ideal free Thunderbird" while
bemoaning the fact that there is simply nobody to fix long standing
bugs or create major innovations: the feeling is there is no
incentive and Thunderbird will fade into obscurity. Meanwhile,
Postbox is creating one useful feature after the other. What I
_don't_ like about Postbox is that it isn't fully open source and
that it is not in sync with the tree. Why can't we have both - be in
sync with m-c and have a financial basis for paying developers for
the other necessary work? I want the free as in freedom, and this
needs to be financed somehow. It is time the millions of users to
step forward.<br>
<br>
I do something similar with my Addons: there is always a free (as in
beer) version, but the trick is to make the incentive of a license /
patronage big enough so people turn from passengers into
contributors. And also like I said before have a multi-tiered
approach so people can pay according to their pockets and do not
feel locked out if they live in a low-wage country. E.g.: "pay us
what you earn in one hour for a yearly license". Sound fair? <br>
<br>
Think of the hundreds of hours developers, planners, community
members etc. invest in this product and how much better it could be
if it could afford paying people for doing the "unloved" bugs and
features. I think the main problem here is to do the marketing to
convince people to shed the attitude that just consumes an asset
(freedom) without giving back. And there are plenty of users who
would pay more than just an hours work to do this if they would gain
a more useful tool. But everybody knows when donating you will not
get anything as you are just a minority and there are no official
incentives to do so. Also they know that they essentially pay for
2000 other users who do not pay anything. It feels like we are
having this discussion for years now; let's at least create an
alternative channel for people who are willing to contribute and
make that as attractive and inclusive as possible. <br>
<br>
If we can even convert 1 percent of the users to this initially to
plant a seed I would consider this a success - and it would free up
some funds to do either marketing or come up with a wider strategy.
Say if we could have 250,000 users "patreoning" Thunderbird with 5$
a year and getting some tangible benefits from this that would be a
starting point. <br>
<br>
<br>
<br>
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