[bennythomsson]

And you might be underestimating the work that went into those libraries.

We are talking decades of work, dealing with platform issues, performance, loads of security considerations and then there is the whole licensing+patent topic.

Sure UI work is hard, but of the whole package, it's only the visible part of the iceberg and now I'm expected to give $30 to the person who only contributed that last piece? Of course it's work too but if not at least half that money is being donated to the underlying FOSS projects then I'm out.

Another suggestion: open source your app. Those who don't know how to compile/build it, or are too lazy, which will be most, they can pay for the convenience, and you'll have the income you expect, but at least you are giving back to the community on whose work you are basing yours.

> self-taught full-stack developer who wrote the first line of code in the 2020 Corona lockdown.

You my friend are standing on the shoulders of giants. Time to ack them.

[fauigerzigerk]

For my own open source libraries, I have made a conscious decision to say "I don't care". And the language in which I'm saying it is legalese. It's all in the license.

If I felt that people should give me a cut of any commercial software they build on top of my library then I would try to express that in my choice of license.

[bennythomsson]

I have the same view on my own FOSS work (also expressed in its license) and generally also don't think that FOSS authors should feel that their users are obligated to give them anything (beyond the conditions of the license).

Though we as a community can still have views regarding kids hacking things trying to profit off decades of hard work by a large community. Different if they contribute back obvioisly. There are lots of compromise models out there.

Edit: Softened unreasonably provocative expressions

[Capricorn2481]

> Covid-self-taught kids hacking something half-baked

And the mask slips. Maybe don't gatekeep software using licenses as they are designed to be used

[bennythomsson]

Sorry, not the most diplomatic expression. Fixed.

Though acting legally and acting ethically/responsibly are still different things.

You did read the rest of my post right?

[gus_massa]

> and now I'm expected to give $30 to the person who only contributed that last piece?

No, you are not expected to pay $30 to anybody.

If the distribution of the money make you unhappy, just pay $30 to this guy and $30 to the other project (or $150 using a x5 ratio sugested in other comment).

Or you can use the free CLI, or a free alternative.

Even better, you can write a free clone of this app and distribute it for free. Just remember to choose the licence carefuly. You'd probably like AGPL that makes comercial use very difficult.

[sadeshmukh]

Software isn't a one time use commodity. Other people can make UIs - guess why people still buy them! And if you're mad about commercialization, then they should have chosen a different license. You are paying for the UI, and only the UI.