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So what about true marketplace support... [message #642822]

Thu, 02 December 2010 14:54

Eclipse User

... as in money changing hands. Any thoughts on supporting selling of plugins?

- Konstantin

Re: So what about true marketplace support... [message #644674 is a reply to message #642822]

Mon, 13 December 2010 12:45

Eclipse User

We've taken a look at this but it is not trivial to implement. The key challenge is how to accept payment.

One option is the Eclipse Foundation accepts the payment and then forwards to the supplier. Unfortunately the IT, legal and tax implications of doing this on a global basis are not within our capabilities.

Second option, is that we allow individuals suppliers to link to their own PayPal account. However, it is not clear there is a consistent workflow and license management scheme that we could standardize on within MPC. I've take a look at some plugins and everyone seems to handle license management differently. It was not also clear if PayPal provided the hooks to make this transparent.

I am certainly open to other suggestions but right now I can't see us progressing very much on this.

Sorry
Ian

Re: So what about true marketplace support... [message #644729 is a reply to message #644674]

Mon, 13 December 2010 18:54

Eclipse User

I am a big fan of Apple AppStore biz model. It is one of those rare cases of win-win-win arrangements. Developers (especially independents and small companies) are more than happy to give a percentage of payments in exchange for marketing, distribution and payment processing. Users are thrilled to have a single trusted conduit for software. Store provider rakes in a pile of cash on ongoing basis for a relatively modest operating cost.

If Eclipse Foundation were to run a PluginStore, it could provide a significant source of revenue to augment declining membership dues.

There would of course have to be an initial investment in IT, legal and accounting to get this off the ground.

It is quite fascinating to examine the role that AppStore played in popularizing iOS as a development platform. The attraction of a well-defined way to get compensated for your product spurred one of the quickest developer community ramp-ups that was ever seen by the industry. A similar thing can happen at Eclipse, but on a somewhat smaller scale (to account for smaller user base).

I see this as being well within Eclipse Foundation's charter as it builds a stronger and larger community for Eclipse.

- Konstantin

Re: So what about true marketplace support... [message #644863 is a reply to message #644729]

Tue, 14 December 2010 09:08

Eclipse User

I don't disagree with anything you have said here. The only thing is that we have not figured out how we could actually recover the costs. The Apple AppStore appeals to a much wider audience, hence potential market.

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