How to deal with the VAT requirement when most community software is developed without anything resembling remotely a Ltd company? Is a company acting as proxy something to be considered?
How about just dropping the requirement? As has already been pointed out, it's a barrier to small businesses, not just individuals.
Originally Posted by
Also, what about dependencies? The store concept works well for cases when you have one package and all the dependencies are satisfied by the official libraries pre-installed in the device and available in the SDK. But what about an 47Kb Python app pulling all the Python dependencies? And pulling from where? The Ovi store doesn't have a setting like Extras nowadays.
It doesn't just set up a repository? The .install files on Maemo Select look like they do that, even for the non-Free stuff.
To solve many pointed and possible problems, maybe the back end that Maemo uses currently could be marketed and re branded as Ovi's "Open Source" back end for both Symbian and Maemo for the sake of convergence which will be much appreciated when QT dominates all Nokia/Ovi platforms?
And maybe Ovi could act as the main proxy company that employs it's developers, to let developers focus on what they do best as I suggested above?
About parallel publishing, I believe that this is not a problem for Nokia at all. code177, you say that making a paid app free would upset Nokia but, again, I can't see why. The ones upset might be probably your customers (the ones that paid).
Then again, in practice it looks that this parallel publishing might happen more starting in maemo.org ans continuing in Ovi than the other way around. But there might be exceptions, and surely maemo.org and its Extras process is worth exploring for certain types of commercial developers as well.
Why would that be arguable? I don't follow, sorry.
Because possibly your target customers for the paid version will be the same customers that are tired performers of commonly known Nokia buying strategy: "Just wait a bit when something pops out, probably a better conditioned one will arrive in time"
this very thing as happened already a few times
companies offering a app for free on there site but charged for it on ovi store, word quickly got around and they quickly got stoned for it, not long after though it became free on ovi too.
ewan, I believe the VAT requirement is useful to find a common framework for payments and liabilities across the hundred something countries where the Ovi store services are supported.
How you combine GPL software with liabilities for distributors is another interesting question, but I understand that Ovi prefers to play safe here. More or less like GeneralAntilles, they also say that if you want to distribute free software as an individual and your are in a hurry then maemo.org is for you.
They will probably explore areas like accepting individuals but it will take a while, and we have a concrete case that needs to be addressed now with the N900.
I'd love to put my app on Ovi for the consumers when it's done but also have it freely available for tech people who actually look for it.
I have no interest in charging for my packages, but I certainly want to give users the option to donate. I'm sure this has been said elsewhere, but open source packages should be presented right alongside the proprietary ones, with a field where the user can name their own price. Free software should be every bit as visible to the average consumer as the proprietary stuff, and the process for making a donation should be just as easy as buying a proprietary app.
I guess Ovi would have to drop the VAT requirement for that to work though.
What is the difference between paying 1€ and donating 1€? In many (most? all?) countries 1M received through donations is just as taxable as 1M received through sales.
What is the difference between paying 1€ and donating 1€? In many (most? all?) countries 1M received through donations is just as taxable as 1M received through sales.
Donations are optional, and the amount is up to the consumer. I don't want to set a price for my packages; I want my users to set their own prices. If they want to pay nothing, they're still welcome to install and/or modify it -- that's why it's called free software.
