From: "milton_aupperle" <milton@outcastsoft.com>

Date: August 6, 2012 8:10:02 PM MDT

To: Astro_IIDC@yahoogroups.com

Subject: Re: PGR GrassHopper Express 2.8 and Extended Shutter

Hi Jim;

Good suggestion.

To keep it in development would require all of my users from the past 4 years  paying a maintenance fee of $100 per year.

Since I suspect well over 50% will not do that would mean it would have to at a minimum of 2 or 3 times that.

That's because Contract Services subsidized Astro IIDC and that's gone. A lot of government business disappeared when XServes were cancelled and the meager amount of military development I was getting has switched to Windows or Linux. Basically I have been subsidizing Astro IIDc for 4 years now - hoping improved Mac sales would lead to better margins. That will not happen going forward.

People consistently over estimate the Macs sales numbers. I can tell you right now pretty much all Mac scientific software is in the same situation as I am. Most people using Macs don't do Science - otherwise Apple would not be integrating FaceBook or Twitter or other Social Media stuff into the ML or tightening down the rules for all Social software.

Later..

Milton Aupperle

--- In Astro_IIDC@yahoogroups.com, Jim Chung <jim_chung@...> wrote:

Milton,

This is terrible news.

I wonder if users on this forum and in general would be open to the  

idea of a pretty minimal annual support fee that could keep AstroIIDC  

alive.  I pay something like $1500 a year for support with the  

software my dental office runs on and I need them for very little.   

Don't forget that if you buy a new laptop and Milton isn't around then  

there is nobody to provide a software key.

Milton, would even $10 a head be enough?  Or how much would be needed?

We need to keep OSX operating system as a viable alternative for astroimaging.

Jim