My personal viewpoint:
Guest wrote:Unfortunately I asked for a discussion on it, not a judgement of whether it was a good idea or not.
Discussion: "examination (of a matter) by arguments for and against; a debate"
The Shorter Oxford English Dictionary
Just because most of the arguments disagree with you and argue the "cons" of the idea, or point out the flaws in some of the "pros", doesn't make it less of a discussion.
Guest wrote:I'm also aware that it has a very small niche market at the moment and its potential could be far greater.
A potential that will not necessarily be fulfilled by open source, which is part of the discussion.
Are the major successful marketplace positions Moho/Anime Studio is competing with open source?
See
http://www.bakhter.com/html/2d/ink&paint_tools.html and/or
http://www.bakhter.com/html/2d/animation_tools.html for examples.
Are there open-source 2D vector animation programs that are not wildly successful, and continue to remain in a very limited niche?
Synfig is possibly an example of this?
Guest wrote:Have any one used programs like Blender or GIMP then you should know that this software is extremely powerful and was only achieved through the Opensource community.
I have used the GIMP and Inkscape - they are fine, but many closed-source equivalents are equally fine, and sometimes better. I tried using Blender, but I greatly preferred commercial closed-source 3D software.
The GIMP and Inkscape were modelled at least partly from many existing successful closed-source programs - commercial software for 3D modelling/animation/rendering and image manipulation.
They are not examples of results only achievable through open source.
Moreover, as far as I know, like most successful open-source software the GIMP did not spring from the released source code of a previously commercial program. It grew from people who, in open-source parlance, "had an itch and scratched it". Likewise for Inkscape.
If decent commercial Photoshop or Illustrator equivalents had existed for Linux, and Linux users had been willing to pay for them, neither may have arisen.
Some open-source developers have fully-paid jobs, and open-source development is their hobby, or in some circumstances they are paid, by companies that use the software, to develop it further.
Neither would necessarily be the case for Moho/Anime Studio.
Blender is an unusual example in that it grew from the released code of a failed closed-source commercial project. What's more, if I remember correctly, the Blender-using community actually raised enough money to buy the source-code from the original owner after the project had failed, so it would continue to be developed.
Originally, and in its open-source release, Blender made money directly for its creator.
Consider also that many open-source programs are released only for a single platform, often that of its main developer/s, and often Linux, a world where programmers often dabble. As commercial software, Moho/Anime Studio is maintained on 3 platforms - Mac, Windows, and Linux.
Guest wrote:The developers can go ahead and develop Anime studio, but remember it will be greatly different to what Moho is.
But the point is, Anime Studio is just Moho 5.4 (5.5 ?) with a new name and a new distribution/support system. Moho has not finished or failed, like Blender, nor is it the result of "personal itches that need scratching", like the GIMP or Inkscape.
Guest wrote:Moho won't be around anymore
A change of name does not equal the software ceasing.
As for Red Hat, there are important corporate servers where managers are willing to pay significantly for technical support. What's the Moho equivalent? T-shirts? Printed manuals? Be serious!
I like open-source software. I use open-source software. I have written and released open-source software.
Is it appropriate for Moho/Anime Studio? Personally, I don't think so.
1. Are you willing to do significant programming for a Moho equivalent?
2. Or can you get someone to do it for you?
3. Are you willing to pay significantly for the release of Moho source-code?
4. Are you willing to pay significant money for an annual support contract, rather than for the software itself?
I think these are the criteria for the origin and survival of open-source software.
In the case of the GIMP and Inkscape, the answer to at least one of the first two questions is yes for any particular person. For the continuing development of Blender, the third question was true and the other two became true.
For Red Hat, see question 4.
For Moho/Anime Studio, I'd rather pay for continuing development as it currently stands, and that's why I think it should stay commercial and closed-source.
Regards, Myles.