Life Is Rich

NetNewsWire goes FREE… sortof…

Following my trilogy on free software, it’s with a curious eye that I’ve been watching Newsgator’s move to offer all of their client software for free. This isn’t free in the open-source / libre sense but in the gratis – free as in beer sense. I was already a bit wary after Newsgator’s purchase of the NetNewsWwire product some time ago.

Let me just state uncategorically, NetNewsWire just rocks. This may be my most used software on my Mac. It’s well-designed and stable as a four-legged stool in a schoolhouse during summer vacation (?). The developer of the app is responsive to requests and seems like a great guy – and no one can blame someone for providing for themselves and their family. Newsgator’s purchase seemed to bring no immediate negatives – the same developer that was always working on this beautiful creation continued to do so. In addition, Newsgator syncing (which allows me to catch up on my RSS feeds from the iPhone) has been a real boon. My only concern rested in the fact that some indie developer with a close ear to the customers had been replaced by a corporation (even though a small one) that had many more interests and concerns than mine (a customer for a satellite product in its portfolio).

The announcement a couple weeks back that Newsgator was offering all its clients for free shocked me. It wasn’t that I was peeved that I paid for something that was now free. It was that I paid for a specific product and the expected value from said payment. Had the value been changed by it going free? Would the product continue to receive the attention from its customers if it no longer had paying customers? Also, as I’ve stated in other ways before – there ain’t no such thing as a free lunch. Newsgator is a corporation – and its motivations are certainly not to give away free software just to be nice. Where was the monetization of this gratis software?

Apparently, the motivation was two pronged. First, they apparently are seeking market share to drive sales of their enterprise solutions. This seems reasonable and doesn’t have serious negative impacts to the customer (although it does bely where their interests lie and for which customer they will be more reactive too). The second is a little more disconcerting. Newsgator will be using your reading and selection habits for their own purposes. The FAQ and queries to the execs never came clear on how possible it was to opt-out of this data collection – it appeared to be dependent on specific apps and could possibly involve deactivating your syncing.

I’m a bit peeved that I paid for a product that had been devalued – and now conceivably that product could be changed to pillage my privacy as part of the price of it being free (which I obviously didn’t agree to when forking over my money). Fortunately, it appears that NetNewswire is one of the apps that allows you to continue to sync while deactivating the personal information. But the whole thing almost feels like a bait and switch. In the end, the data is fairly anonymous and unlikely a serious risk to my privacy – but something about this whole experience has left a bad taste in my mouth. It feels “Microsoftish”.

As an aspiring independent Mac software developer, giving away the hard work of a developer does devalue all software. Rogue Amoeba discusses this as well. I also feel sorry for those trying to break into the RSS feed market. It’s hard to compete with free, but as I stated, NetNewsWire truly isn’t free. You pay a very small cost in privacy. If that cost becomes more onerous or more expensive with time, their might be another opening for a competitor some day. Until then, I’ll keep using NetNewsWire and welcome our new Newsgator overlords…