I plan on starting a simple micro ISV selling some dot.net and classic ASP components. I'm talking $50 components here, not anything major. However, I don't want to go through the hassle and expense of incorporating because, after all, this can fail miserably anyways like everything else I do. Plan is to put up a website, buy adword...
I would like to know, for those of you who are one-man bands especially, how much of your time is spent maintaining or supporting your programs, as it compares to everything else you do in your day to day business. I worked in telephone-based tech support for a large ISP for two years, and I still have nightmares about that. I can get m...
I am evaluating my options of starting my own software company and I am wondering if anybody can recommend any good books about the subject. I am busy reading "Eric Sink on the Business of Software". Any other suggestions very welcome! ...
Hello folks can you please recommend me on good blogs or sites that talks about single man software developers or micro-Isv's (of course i know joel on software... ) ...
This question maybe a better fit on The Business of Software forum but despite my post on there, I'm still unable to determine the following: Can I use the Google API to build commercial software? If not how can the people behind Byline charge for their app? Update: I'm specifically interested in Google's Picasa & Reader APIs ...
To clarify, I already have ideas -- some of which are in progress. My question has more to do with what qualities in a piece of software makes it a good candidate for just one man to develop & maintain it. And what are some examples of successful software applications that were developed by just one man (or woman)? ...
Not a programming question I'm afraid, so moderators do what you will, but it is a question specifically for self-employed programmers running their own ISV sites. If you publish your own shareware or freeware, do you use any CMS or templating system to streamline maintaining the website? Would you recommend any? Two most important fea...
The Joel Test is an excellent, simple metric for gauging software team quality (and potential pitfalls). But what if you are acting as an independent programmer, a MicroISV, or a one-person shop? Some aspects of the original test don't apply (hallway usability testing, interview questions), while other aspects are missing (things specifi...
I've started developing a website in ASP.NET MVC and have taken part in the BizSpark program. The only part that concerns me is the licensing cost of SQL Server Enterprise after the three year period is up. Given this cost, and the potential outcome that this product may not 'take off'; should I rewrite the application in a 'free' plat...
Assume for a moment that you are creating a commercial product for SharePoint. This product will be offered in both Community (free) and Enterprise (pay) editions. The code base for the Community edition is a subset with minor deltas all handled through (C#) #define statements. Effectively it's a single code base. The build process b...
Hello, I'm developing a shareware sdk-like library (using C++). The library is a simple dll provides some functions. So, my first question is what types of trials are possible for simple dll? I don't want to cut the functionality of the trial dll, so I tend to use time-trial. I roughly understand how to track usage time of the lib, so...
Yesterday I was checking VS2010 editions here and I've noticed that with VS10 with MSDN we get TFS2010 with 1 CAL. I'm a micro ISV (basically sole developer, many clients). I just want to save time - did anyone tried it in similar scenario? Are there any features worth looking into for such a small implementation? P.S. Right now I'm ...
I've been writing software in Java for many years now, but it was always for internal applications that would be deployed to a server. I'd like to get into writing desktop applications now but I don't know where to start. I've written a few Java/Swing applications but again they were for internal use. My understanding is that Java and...