Nokia is a big corporation, and it's clear that some parts of it are inflexible. Even though Nokia seems to be changing in the right direction, it might take years to get to where we want to be, by which time the battle for developers will be lost.
So let me propose something completely different, starting from these assumptions:
1. There are talented Maemo developers who have written great software that is commercially viable.
2. There are plenty more talented Maemo developers who would write such software if they had a simple way to sell it.
3. Due to our background in Open Source, we tend to have different values and interests from mainstream software companies.
4. Most of us would be (at best) small-time developers. So we need a commercial framework that's very simple and has a very low barrier to entry.
Here's what I suggest.
We operate a service (which I'll call "Premium Maemo Apps", just for the sake of this discussion). It's a subscription service - let's say $25 per year, the same amount as a Flickr Pro account.
In return for the subscription fee, the customer gets unlimited access to the "Premium Maemo Apps" repository, and to a set of support forums.
The Premium Maemo Apps repository is filled with open source apps. There's no DRM. Personalization of the apps is allowed (e.g. the title bar could say who bought it) but because it's open source there's nothing stopping people removing that.
The service comes with a Premium Apps Manifesto which is a list of things that make the apps trustworthy: open development, no trojans, no spyware etc. This is the unique selling point of the service.
Of course not just any open source Maemo app would be accepted into the service, so there would need to be a review process.
And where do the subscription fees go? Some is used to operate the service, and the rest goes to the developers. How is it split up? Obviously some algorithm must be worked out, which should be kept simple and transparent so that people spend their time developing and supporting their software (and therefore growing the size of the monetary pie) rather than arguing endlessly about who gets what share of a smaller pie.
Regards,
Roger
PS: This is not just empty waffle. I operate uclue.com, a paid Q&A/research service which aggregates the services of individual researchers and pays them 50% to 70% of what the customer pays to Uclue. I can see many analogies to how a Premium Maemo Apps service could operate, paying a proportion of the subscription fee to the app developers.
See the link "Publishing to Ovi discussion board on Forum Nokia". If you want to give direct feedback to Ovi as a developer that is the official channel for you. maemo.org is about community development, Forum Nokia concentrates in commercial developers.
"VAT / Tax ID" is a compulsory field in the registration form. What information did you put there?
Having a VAT / Tax ID is generally a good idea when doing business. In most countries it's cheap and easy to get one. And in most places the accounting gets complicated as your revenues grow, having to do basically nothing complicated for low incomes.
Some people are opposing "freelance" to "corporation". Let's not get lost in language and translation. Individuals can get a VAT / Tax ID and form a single person company. I have been a self-employed before joining Nokia, and it's not rocket science if you make your living out of it.
if i read this correctly from a UK perspective:
I am registered self-employed and thus have a tax ID i believe.
I could also apply for and receive VAT registration from HMRC.
Having both of these things I would be able to sign up to Ovi, and commercially sell my aplications through the Ovi Store.
If that is the case, then that is entirely reasonable.
If being registered self-employed and VAT registered is not enough, then that is a pile of pants.
The Maemo Devices team is discussing with the Ovi team about ways to accelerate the acceptance of individuals but, to be honest, our primary case are open source developers distributing free (as in beer and as in speech) software with liabilities defined in the license ("... AT YOUR OWN RISK", says the GPL and others).
I am registered self-employed and thus have a tax ID i believe.
I could also apply for and receive VAT registration from HMRC.
Having both of these things I would be able to sign up to Ovi, and commercially sell my aplications through the Ovi Store.
If that is the case, then that is entirely reasonable.
Note: This is more a bit playing devil's advocate, I sincerely do hope that there will be many great open source applications for maemo. But there might be people who do not want to go that road (yeah, Apple spoiled everyone with their app store and the "promise" to get rich on apps". But I still think there needs to be a way to get software on the phone if you are "just a person" and want to see some reimbursement for the time you put in.
So I'm this guy who is employed. In my spare time I'm developing some applications for the N900. [Okay, this isn't true, I didn't take non-free into account: As I am not into OpenSource, I cannot put those through Maemo Extras (or what it is called now)]
But I'd like to offer them for - say - EUR 0.99 somewhere - that's where the ovi store comes in.
Quim said that the Tax ID is used to make sure, that the person somehow is trustworthy. Guess what: In Germany every person has a Tax ID which doesn't change during the lifetime of that person.
Or does it have to be a VAT ID? That means that I would have to incorporate myself besides already being employed by someone, which adds a nice overhead when doing your taxes.
Sorry, in my view that still is broken, even if I can understand, that Nokia doesn't want to take liability for breaches through software in the ovi store.
So I'm this guy who is employed. In my spare time I'm developing some applications for the N900. As I am not into OpenSource, I cannot put those through Maemo Extras (or what it is called now).
Can you only submit open source stuff to extras? I didn't know that.
If you're posting free software, what stops someone simply pulling the software from your 'premium' repo and reposting it in maemo-extras
Absolutely nothing! That's how free software works.
What stops people pulling the Creative Commons music from Magnatune.com and reposting it elsewhere? Absolutely nothing. But Magnatune appears to still be in business.
What's to stop people getting water from a tap instead of buying it in a bottle from the store? Absolutely nothing. But somehow the supermarket shelves have a profitable "bottled water" section.
@eiffel
I like the idea and your points are very good. I still hope that ovi store would be sorted and usable for maemo developers. I think the "maemo premium apps" idea could be hard to get to the end users without direct support from nokia (like having the link or app or whatever is needed included in the firmware)
