Vuescan 8.0.2: Changed Linux version to no longer be free for personal use

[Christian Tsotras]

Would Linux users become a viable market ?

 

[Ed Hamrick]

Would Linux users become a viable market ?

I made the Linux version free for personal use a few months
ago (Standard Edition only). This was an experiment to see
if the number of downloads would increase enough to offset
the reduced percentage of people who purchase it.

However, the number of copies downloaded per day stayed
at less than 100 per day, both before and after I made the
Standard Edition free on Linux. The experiment didn't work,
mostly because the desktop linux market is so small, so I
reverted to charging for the Linux version.

Regards,
Ed Hamrick

 

[Carsten Schurig]

Hi Ed,

first I use Vuescan on Linux and I really like it.

Standard Edition free on Linux. The experiment didn't work,
mostly because the desktop linux market is so small, so I
reverted to charging for the Linux version.

Well I think the problems are others:

- vuescan may not be well known to a standard linux user
- vuescan is not included in a Linux distribution (or am I wrong here?)
- there're alternatives for Linux, esp. xsane which are included in
almost any Linux distribution
- Linux people tend to buy scanners, that work well with sane so they
don't need to look for better support
- Linux users are used to:
- download software from more than one place
(many may even have a favourite archive to look on)
- download a package fitting well into the distribution
(rpm, deb)
- have a global install with standard configuration in /etc and
user specific configuration as .something


So I don't know if just changing it to "free for personal use" and then
wait some month should increase the download rate. To get better known a
good way would be IMO to have your program included in some big Linux
distributions. Maybe some people would even buy vuescan then.

Thanks for your good work.

Cheers,
Carsten

 

[Christian Tsotras]

However, the number of copies downloaded per day stayed
at less than 100 per day, both before and after I made the
Standard Edition free on Linux.

And which is the windows rate ?


When you changed the Linux version to free, I thought you wanted to
prepare the end of support of VS on Linux.

VS on Linux may cause further problems to solve every day, and it wouldn't
be interesting regarding the "so small" market ...

 

[Ralf Hartings]

Christian Tsotras wrote:

I thought you wanted to

prepare the end of support of VS on Linux.

VS on Linux may cause further problems to solve every day, and it wouldn't
be interesting regarding the "so small" market ...

I hope Ed does not take this last remark into account... I run Linux and
the reason why I use Vuescan, is that it is THE ONLY program of a
certain class in the Linux world (sorry, but xsane does not even come
close).

Problems in Vuescan are often due to the specific scanner hardware, not
with the OS platform I guess. Vuescan does not use any OS specific
drivers and is therefore independent of the OS platform (please correct
me if I am wrong). Besides, when the vuescan code is ready, it's
"peanuts" to generate the Linux version (or am I wrong again?).

Ed, please, do not discontinue the Linux version!

Ralf Hartings

A Linux user of Vuescan for many years (and hopefuly for many years to
come too..)

 

[Christian Tsotras]

I hope Ed does not take this last remark into account...

I hope too !

This is why the migration to a commercial product again is a good news
*for me*: as I paid my Vuescan years ago, I can still have a support
(wich is very good) and application evolution.

I run Linux and the reason why I use Vuescan, is that it is THE ONLY
program of a certain class in the Linux world

I agree.

The reason why I run VS on Linux is that I can control ALL parameters of
memory, multitasking and desktop when running such a CPU/MEM-demanding
application. For me, Windows is too opaque on these criteria (and many
others).

 

[Ed Hamrick]

And which is the windows rate ?

The Windows download rate is between 10 and 20 times higher
than the Linux download rate.

When you changed the Linux version to free, I thought you wanted to
prepare the end of support of VS on Linux.

Yes, I've considered this. However, it isn't a lot of work
to keep releasing the Linux version, so I'll continue to do so.

Regards,
Ed Hamrick

 

[Ralf Hartings]

Yes, I've considered this. However, it isn't a lot of work
to keep releasing the Linux version, so I'll continue to do so.

Regards,
Ed Hamrick

This is great news Ed!

Ralf Hartings