In 2016 I released Chevereto-Free 1.0.0 with the goal of building another audience and to discourage piracy of my software. I wanted to shift the project into a collaborative initiative as I was getting burned with the common "can you add X please?" or the "add this and you will make rich!" feedback. Every single addition depends on me, so I though myself that Open Source could be a way.
I was expecting people to join development, and that a fraction of these users will upgrade to paid edition to get myself a sustainable income. The idea was to use this Open Source edition as marketing for my work by gifting ongoing releases based on the paid edition to the community.
# Users don't contribute
Chevereto-Free is currently used in ~4K systems and it totals ~10K installations (per domain). Out of these it converted <1%, meaning that it requires another order of magnitude in distribution to get a meaningful revenue. The user base needs to be huge to get a living out of this.
But that's OK! I knew the 1% rule as I don't live under a rock. Thing is that I was expecting more collaboration not people using it for free and walk away. Something I dislike about Open Source culture is the common thought that they tell themselves that by using a software they did their part and contribute. Using the software is not contributing, it is just usage.
# Sorry
Without contribution and with that "low" user base for me it is impossible to keep considering doing Chevereto-Free and that's why I will stop maintaining it by the end of this year. I'm sorry but I can't afford the time neither I've the resources to allocate maintainers for it.
If you are a software maintainer or know someone who may be interested in maintain Chevereto-Free please contact me.
# Bonus Track
# Update 2021-09-30
I will transfer the project ownership to my personal space at rodber where I will drive it as a hobby/pet project. I figured out that I can manage myself to don't get stressed with this. It doesn't have to end this suddenly, it can be slower.
There won't be new features, only basic maintenance for system operability.
# Update 2022-08-15
Chevereto-Free project archiving has been scheduled for November 1st. In that date repository will be archived and I will full stop any further maintenance. If you want to keep using active Chevereto software head over to chevereto.com/pricing.