> It was also targetted at non-technical people and as an indie developer, it’s very difficult to reach that market.

I found this comment interesting. I haven’t had any success, not for lack of trying, but it seems like most advice I’ve heard is that technical users are hard to sell to.

>> I find that focusing on the process instead of the outcome not only removes the pressure of chasing success, it also just makes it more fun. Whether this translates to any commercial success remains to be seen, but hey, fun is good!

This is important. All businesses should understand what their goals are, and should make decisions that serve their goals.

And it's very important to understand that there are different goals, and hence that there are different companies doing things in different ways.

One person's experience in one kind of company can lead to the conclusion that all companies behave like that. Which is untrue.

If the goal is to have fun, then make decisions that lead to fun.

However if the goal is to make a living, then make decisions that lead to income. Unfortunately most of those decisions will lead to not-fun.

Developing a software business, with paying customers, able to pay salaries, becoming sustainable, means mostly doing business things not software things. And in most cases building software does not lead to success. It is necessary, but not sufficient.

Most business (financial) success comes through the other bits. Marketing. Sales. Support. Documentation. Invoicing. Accounting. Etc.

Having fun is good. But it's ideal if that's not your day job and you can afford not to rely on it for income.

Did you open source it after calling it quits? You never know when someone might feel inspired to breathe new life into the project.

> Inevitably, with an audience that size, a loud minority made their negative feelings known. Instead of letting these comments deflate them, they turned the tables on them.

“Primus sucks!”