Why isn't FOSS software being distributed trough Microsoft, Apple and Steam store?

Besides the obvious issue that’s the lack of an entity capable of accepting money and paying developers why isn’t pretty much any FOSS software available on those stores?

Some of it is, like Krita & Blender. Krita makes a good chunk of change from the windows store.

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I’m aware but what about all the other software? Like Gimp? They could easily accept money trough GNOME and yet they choose not to.

It’s a great income because it’s an income without the expectations of further development since you are buying that exact available version of the software. So no developer has to feel pressured to leave his day job or wife, kids and their dog to develop the software for taking that 100$ of donations.

I assume that’s why many devs don’t even want any donations b/c it creates certain expectations of him. This would be a way to at least partially help with that. And as the income grows maybe that dev could afford itself to work on the project full time. But without a start, there’s no end.

A quick check, I found Notepad++, GIMP, Blender, OpenOffice, LibreOffice, there is quite a lot.

I am with Windows 10 for years, this was the first time I actually looked at the MS Store.

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Me: Ha ha, my Windows is so (purposefully) crippled that the store doesn’t work, nor do I want it to.

Everyone: use Linux already.

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You have to be careful there, as a program being in the MS Store (and being charged for it) doesn’t mean it comes from the project itself (like not all Flathub packages are ‘oficial’)

A quick check in Gimp and LibreOffice’s webpages doesn’t show any mention of the MS Store, and specifically the LibreOffice Store version says ‘packaged by a third party’. So your money may not be heading the way you think it is…

Another point is that it’s not cheap to publish there (the MS Store charges around 50USD a year, I guess Apple and Steam are similar).

Why? Once you buy an app you are entitled to the support and updates, like in any other distribution channel. But now the ‘entitlement’ is higher, because you actually paid for it :wink:

Having said that, I do agree that the presence in stores should be part of a global strategy:

  • get it free at the project webpage, with the option to leave a one time donation
  • pay for it in a store (more exposure, but part of the money is ‘lost’ to the store owner)

I think the main problem is, as you said, the lack of a central foundation or similar to manage all that (ideally for several projects to distribute the costs).

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Hello everyone,

Here is a link related to Krita and the Microsoft store:

Personally, I suppose there is not a right way to get donations from users…

For instance, with Patreon [1] there is a high VAT tax to pay which becomes a real burden when you make many regular donations every month. It is more than 20%…
With PayPal this “tax” is way lower.

[1] Patreon

Ok, I get all of that but here’s a crazy idea;

How come no one developed a FOSS store for Windows and MacOS?

Could that store be available from Microsoft and Apple stores for free? (probably not?)

Hello @KristijanZic

How come no one developed a FOSS store for Windows and MacOS?

I suppose this is quite simply due to lack of time and real interest.
Most open source developers have already a full-time job and they code on their little spare time. Not to mention it is a quite boring and little rewarding task, in the short term, at least. You probably might also need a lawyer to do it right (which may be another hurdle to take into account).

If you take GIMP for instance, which is IMHO the open source which needs more economical contributes right now, it looks like there is only one active developer these past months on GITLAB [1], which is Jehan. This French developer has already a Patreon account for instance (and many others different platforms to collect donations…).

[1] Commits · master · GNOME / GIMP · GitLab

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So a chicken and egg problem.

There is, kind of: https://chocolatey.org/

Purely speculating here: I expect microsoft store to be used because it’s convenient (pre-installed) and paradoxically because of trust (there’s apparently lots of people trusting microsoft xD ). So any third party solution immediately faces an uphill battle.

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As to trusting Microsoft - they’ve improved quite a lot since Nadella took over.

I still primarily use Linux, but WSL2 is going to make my life a lot easier at work soon.

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We call that Linux distributions, flatpak or snap :wink:
Many projects started as Linux only projects and get ported to those platforms.
Why would you want an opensource graphic processing software without wanting a full open source stack ?

Hello @Oleastre

Why would you want an opensource graphic processing software without wanting a full open source stack ?

Because most end-users run Windows and Mac. In essence, only around 1-2% run Linux currently.
Most of all, the great majority of artists run Mac and Windows, not Linux.
If you want to get a lot of donations by catering only to Linux users you are probably limiting yourself to a small niche of the market…
I might be totally wrong but I would bet that without Windows and Mac end-users Krita, just to take one open source software, would not be able to hire 4-5 full-time developers right now, as they currently do :slight_smile:

This being said, since most open source developers have already a full-time job and do not need any supplementar income it really make sense for them not to port their softwares to some commercial platforms such as Windows and Mac.

As for me, I would never sponsor any open source software if it does not run on Windows as well.
In Italy, where I live, the big majority of the end-users does not even know what a Linux distribution is (not to mention flatapk , snap and the like) :slight_smile:

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I was mainly answering the question: why would one create an opensource Windows or Mac store ? It almost already exists, but comes with a full operating system.

Many opensource developers use opensource systems, and develop on those systems. That’s why sometimes the support for proprietary systems lacks features.

So maybe there could be an interest to distribute some software using that kind of medium, if it can create incomes, why not.

But it can also have drawbacks: forcing developers to switch to an OS they don’t want to use. So, like many things, it’s a matter of trade-offs.

Hello @Oleastre

But it can also have drawbacks: forcing developers to switch to an OS they don’t want to use. So, like many things, it’s a matter of trade-offs.

I totally agree! :slight_smile:

Besides, in order to attract Windows - Apple end-users your open source software must be indeed attractive since there are already so many excellent alternatives on these 2 commercial platforms.
At present, for example, you can buy a perpetual licence of Affinity photo for less than around 50 euros. DaVinci resolve, a video editing software, offers a free version and it is indeed extremely powerful (it even runs on Linux…).

Therefore, if you want to get some money as donations you are in big trouble to say the least and it is not simple at all :frowning:

And it’s a niche that doesn’t really buy software. Expect lots of praise, but no money :wink:

Best market would be the Mac/iOS market if money is the aim.

The thing about these stores is that the owner uses it to control the flow of apps and customers. On one hand, it allows the curation and vetting of developers and software; provides a supposedly safe and secure environment for the user to make purchases and use the software; and may assist in updates, hotfixes and other value-added services. On the other hand, it could become a so-called walled garden, where there is only one way of doing things and that way only benefits the owner’s interests and opinion.

As someone mentioned, another downside is that the owner takes a cut and also requires developer and other fees and contracts to be honoured. And then there is the race to the bottom to game the system or get ahead. It isn’t easy to keep up with all that stuff. Requires full time non-dev staff just to deal with the ins and outs. Just thinking aloud but I think these downsides hinder a FLOSS developer’s pursuit and joy in making open, free and good software. There are better ways to make money.

Like what? Donations aren’t cutting it.

We choose not to use Windows, in fact. It’s a miracle we have Windows installers at all, all thanks to just one guy currently.

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